A man, who was facing trial for allegedly killing his mother with an axe on her refusal to give him money, has been acquitted by a Delhi court as the two eye witnesses to the incident have already died.
Additional Sessions Judge Manoj Jain gave benefit of doubt to Fateh Singh and freed him of charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and said death of the eye witnesses before recording of their testimony has caused irreparable damage to the prosecution's case.
"Fact remains that both eyewitnesses have, unfortunately, expired before their testimony could be recorded. It has caused irreparable damage to the case of prosecution...
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"Weapon of offence was lying at the spot and it does not contain the fingerprint of anyone. Only surviving circumstance against accused is appearance of bloodstains of his deceased mother on his own clothes, which, in itself, cannot be said to be sufficient in a serious trial like this," the court said.
According to the prosecution, Fateh Singh used to ask money from his mother Sarbati Devi and pressurize her and when she refused to give it, there used to be frequent fights between them.
Fateh, a resident of Kanjhawala in north west Delhi, was unemployed and a drug addict, the police said.
On March 17, 2013, Fateh was having a fight with his mother and was threatening and demanding money from her for purchasing liquor, it said.
The victim's two grandchildren, who were at the adjacent house, heard the noise and went there to solve the issue.
Meenu and Shiv Kumar, the woman's grandchildren saw the accused quarreling with his mother and all of a sudden he became furious and picked up an axe and hit the victim on her head twice.
Shiv Kumar and Meenu snatched the axe from the hands of accused and Sarbati died on the spot and police was informed.
Fateh was arrested and chargesheeted for the offence of murder.
The court, however, had diluted the murder charge and put the accused on trial for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
During the trial, Fateh pleaded innocence and claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case by his nephews who were harbouring grudge against him.
Both eye witnesses, Meenu and Shiv Kumar died during the pendency of the case in 2013, before recording of their statements in the court.
