DNA Puzzle Unresolved, Supreme Court Clears Woman In Himachal Double Murder

New Delhi: In a case that unfolded like a crime thriller, the Supreme Court dissected every strand of circumstantial evidence against a woman, accused of double murder of her step‑mother and step‑brother in Himachal Pradesh. The case involved a forensic twist: Blood stains on all articles were collected on or about the same time, yet some blood stains disintegrated, while one did not.

Yet, as the Apex court noted that this “DNA puzzle” could not be solved by the prosecution — the possibility of breaks in the chain of circumstances left the evidence inconclusive. Upholding the High Court’s acquittal, the Apex court observed that the circumstantial chain must be airtight; guilt can only be established when every link rules out innocence.

The DNA Puzzle

A bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Vijay Bishnoi, in its October 1 judgment, noted that it is surprising that all samples disintegrated, save for the scrape from a cabinet and the one lifted from the cabinet by cotton thread. “Interestingly, the control sample from the cabinet was not sent for forensic examination. Besides, if blood stains on all articles were collected on or about the same time, disintegration of other blood stains and non-disintegration of blood stain found at one spot is something that puzzles us,” noted the bench.

The bench said presence of blood of the accused in the room, at best indicates that at some point in time, the accused was present there.

The bench noted that importantly, blood of the accused was not found present on the clothes of the deceased, or on the cloth with which they were allegedly strangulated. Autopsy revealed that the death was homicidal, due to strangulation, which might have occurred 5-7 days earlier.

It added that this does not indicate that the accused was present on August 31, 2011, or for that matter on any given date, and the prosecution case itself is that the accused had been visiting the house of the deceased regularly in the past.

The bench noted that the probability of some injury in the past causing blood to spill on the cabinet is a possibility that can't be ruled out. “Besides, what is important is that the accused’s blood was not found on the clothes of the deceased, or on any cloth or material that might have been used to strangulate the two deceased. In consequence, this circumstance, even if it is accepted as proven, is not conclusive of the accused being the perpetrator of the crime," it said.

The Apex court declined to interfere with the Himachal Pradesh High Court’s July 28, 2014 judgment, which had set aside the trial court’s conviction and life sentence against Anchla alias Chanchla.

Chain Of Circumstances Must Be Complete

The Apex court stressed that the chain of circumstances must be complete enough to exclude any reasonable hypothesis of innocence, and must indicate that in all probability, the act was committed by the accused.

The bench noted that except for one stained material, all other bloodstains had disintegrated to an extent that it was not possible to generate the DNA profile from them.

It asked why the other blood-stained material lifted from the spot, such as quilt cover, pillow cover, etc., could not generate a DNA profile, whereas the one found over the trunk/cabinet could, given that the blood seems to have oozed out on the same day, i.e., the day of the murder(s). It noted that this is an aspect one must bear in mind while evaluating the evidence.

“Probably, the High Court had in mind that the sample sent for forensic examination may have been planted, after collecting a blood sample from the accused,” the bench said.

The bench considered the time when the crime scene was discovered; when the samples were collected from the crime scene; when the accused was arrested; when the blood sample of the accused was collected; and when the sample was sent to the forensic laboratory for analysis.

The prosecution claimed the woman, who visited her stepmother every 2-3 months, had killed the duo to grab the property of her deceased father, which was bequeathed to the stepbrother.

'Motive Not Established, Casting Doubt On Testimony'

The High Court said the alleged motive was not established, casting doubt on the testimony of the complainant — the father of the deceased woman — who remained silent for 6-7 days, despite living nearby.

Examining the State’s appeal, the bench said the acquittal stands, unless the findings are perverse or plainly contrary to the evidence. “A miscarriage of justice that may arise from acquittal of the guilty, is no less than from the conviction of an innocent," it noted.

The bench noted that though the deaths were homicidal, the prosecution could not prove beyond doubt that they occurred on the intervening night of August 31 and September 1, 2011. The complainant’s testimony as a last-seen witness was found unreliable due to improvements.

The bench said recovery of house keys and phone at accused’s instance lacked credibility without tower‑linked call detail records (CDRs).

“Suppression of the mobile CDR of D-1 (step mother) and its tower location, creates an impression that prosecution is suppressing vital information, as it would have helped in determining whether the deceased died on the date and time professed by the prosecution, or any time later, as also whether the accused and the deceased were at one place at any given point in time,” the bench noted.

The bench also did not entertain the evidence from the taxi driver and hotel staff, saying that the investigating officer failed to explain how these witnesses were identified, which raised the possibility that they had been set up.

The prosecution had examined a taxi driver, who stated that he brought the accused from Chamba to Diur on the evening of August 31, 2011, and that late the same night, took her back to Chamba where she stayed in a hotel.

“We have no hesitation in holding that the prosecution had failed to bring home the charge against the accused. Consequently, we find no reason to interfere with the decision of the High Court. The appeal is accordingly dismissed,” said the bench.

Background

On September 7, 2011, one Bhagi Ram informed the police that his daughter had been missing for the past 6-7 days, and her house was lying locked. The report mentioned emission of foul odour from her house. Upon registration of the report, the police team entered the house, allegedly after breaking the lock, and found two dead bodies, one of D-1 and the other of her minor son.

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