For lack of evidence,court acquits unwed mother of newborn’s murder

The police were informed and the woman was arrested 10 days later. She was booked under Section 302 (murder) and section 318 (concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body) of the Indian Penal Code. She repeatedly filed for bail but was denied by the session’s court in Thane and the Bombay High Court. Consequently,she was behind bars for the last 16 months.

When the matter reached trial before judge M K Walchale,woman’s lawyer Ashish Chavan argued that she was in a state of depression when the child was born out of ‘precipitate labour’,a medical term used for delivery where the duration of labour is short.

He further argued that immediately after the delivery of a child,a mother suffers from a temporary insanity and thus she may not be in a position to observe the condition of the child minutely at birth.

However,the prosecution failed to prove that the newborn child was alive at the time of birth. Chavan argued that the post-mortem doctor did not conduct the ‘hydrostatic test’,which could conclusively prove whether the child was born alive or was a stillbirth.

After taking into account the evidence,judge Walchale acquitted the woman of the murder charge but found her guilty under section 318 of the IPC for secretly disposing of the body. She was given a rigorous imprisonment of 16 months. Chavan said,“Since the woman had already undergone the punishment during the trial,she is now released.”