The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a 21-year-old woman who was booked for allegedly instigating a man to kill his two-year-old son so that the two could marry.
Court's observations
The court noted that the only evidence against Azmatunnisa Ansari was the man’s statement, who claimed that they had a love affair for three years and he took the step at her instigation. The court also said that the woman had been in jail for over nine months.
“It is trite, a disclosure statement of the co-accused does not constitute substantive evidence. In any case, the said statement does not distinctly relate to the fact thereby discovered,” Justice NJ Jamadar said on January 8.
Details of case
On April 18 last year, Rehamatali Ansari took his son and his brother Kismatali’s children to buy them some chocolate. He then asked Kismatali’s son to return home and went further with his son.
When his wife called to ask about their son, Rehamatali feigned ignorance and started searching for the boy along with the rest of the family. They then logged a missing complaint for the boy. A friend later told Kismatali that Rehmatali had told him earlier that he wanted to get rid of his wife. The boy’s body was found the next day in a gunny bag. Based on Kismatali’s complaint, Rehamatali was arrested by the Shahunagar Police Station.
Accused kills son in the hope that his wife would leave him
According to the police, Rehamatali had taken this step as he wanted to marry Azmatunnisa. His theory was that if he killed his son then his wife would leave him and he could then marry Azmatunnisa. Azmatunnisa’s advocate Omkar Chitale submitted that she had been falsely roped in the case on Rehmatali’s statement. There is no other material to establish the link between her and the crime.
Additional public prosecutor GP Mulekar opposed the bail plea contending that there was clear abetment for the commission of the offence of murder by the woman. However, Justice Jamadar said that there was substance in Chitale’s arguments that Rehamatali’s statement does not deserve to be taken into account, even at this stage, much less in trial.
The court also noted that the investigation was complete, and the chargesheet was filed before the trial court. Hence, the court granted her bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs30,000.
