Calcutta High Court Suspends Sentence Of Woman Convicted For Murder Of 6-Year-Old Step Daughter

The Calcutta High Court recently suspended the sentence of a woman who was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court for killing her six-year-old daughter with poison.

Taking note of the fact that the woman has already spent over six years in prison and that her appeal against conviction is still pending, a division-bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee and Justice Apurba Sinha Ray said this is not a case where it can be said that sje has absolutely no chance of succeeding at the final hearing of the appeal.

"Since the appeal is pending, her conviction has not attained finality. She has spent about six and a half years in incarceration. Nobody can say with any certainty when the appeal will be finally decided. If the appeal succeeds at whatever future point of time, indeed, no one will be able to compensate the applicant for the time lost in jail by reason of conviction for a crime that she has not committed," said the court.

The woman was accused of giving her step daughter, who was six years of age at the relevant time, sweets laced with poison. She was convicted in December 2018.

While the counsel representing her pointed to certain alleged inconsistencies in the prosecution evidence, the State said such discrepancies are minor in nature and would not affect the merit of the trial court decision.

Relying on various precedents to grant the relief to the convict, the court said there is no certainty of the appeal being finally decided at an early date in view of the large number of cases pending. Accordingly, the court granted bail to the woman subject to certain conditions.

Case: Naju Bibi @ Narjina Bibi v The State of West Bengal

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Cal) 179

Click Here To Read/Download Order