Plight Of Migrant Workers An Endless, Sad Narrative: Kerala High Court While Upholding Bengal Native's Conviction For Partner's Murder

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Bengal native's appeal against his conviction for the murder of his live-in partner, who was another migrant worker, and her minor child.

A Division Bench of Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Ziyad Rahman A A while upholding his conviction remarked, 

"Far from their homes and family, the plight of migrant workers is an endless narrative, often meaningless in form and sad in content."  

The Court noted that according to the prosecution both the convict and the victim along with her child had come from West Bengal to Kerala to eke out a living.

The accused who was residing along with the woman and child was conspicuously absent when the dead bodies were recovered.

Advocate Renjith B.Marar appeared for the appellant and Special Government Pleader S. Ambika Devi represented the State in the matter. 

The appellant had contested that there was no chain of circumstances connecting the accused with the crime.

Additionally, it was alleged that there was no motive established and the accused had a valid explanation for being away from his workplace. 

Relying on the Apex Court decision in S.K. Yusuf v. State of West Bengal [( 2011) 11 SCC 754], the appellant argued that the mere fact of the accused having absconded does not lead to a necessary conclusion of a guilty mind and also challenge the last seen theory propounded. 

It was further submitted that the fact that the appellant's grandmother was ill and he had taken a loan for the same explains his absence, which is sufficient under Section 106 of the Evidence Act.

However, the prosecution narrative was that on the night of May 4, 2011, the appellant murdered his live-in partner by stabbing her 15 times and thereafter strangulated her child after which he fled to his native state the next morning.

Subsequently, he was arrested from West Bengal and brought back to Kerala to stand trial.

According to the prosecution, he had murdered the woman and her child for the money she had stashed away.

The appellant also denied any relationship with the victims in his statement under Section 313 of CrPC.

However, the prosecution said that several witnesses, including the employer of the convict and the victim, had said that the two were in a live-in relationship and he was last seen with the victims on the date of incident.

Upon hearing arguments on behalf of the appellant and the prosecution, the Court said,

"His presence with the deceased, his flight to his native place at a time proximate to the time of death, the lack of an explanation and the false statement in section 313 establishes the guilt of the accused. The plea that he left the locality for reason of his grandmother's illness also fails to impress."

Dismissing the appeal, the Court stated thus:

"We, hence, find the appeal to be devoid of merit and dismiss the same affirming the conviction and sentence awarded by the trial court."

Case Title: Pradeep Sonar v. State of Kerala

Click Here To Read The Judgment