Court sympathy for unwed mother who killed her child

An unwed mother, who had thrown her newborn boy from the third floor of her flat onto the road below leading to the infant's death, has been sentenced by a Delhi court to a jail term of four years already undergone during the trial period.

The court diluted the charge of murder and convicted the Delhi-based girl for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, saying the likely intention to cause the infant's death was not ruled out.

"The accused (girl) is victim of circumstances and has no intention of committing the murder of infant before his birth and on the spur of the moment in disturbed mental state she had thrown the said infant resulting in his death.

"As the entire act was committed on the spur of the moment, thus the accused is not liable to offence of murder. However, the likely intention to cause death of the infant is not ruled out...Hence, the accused is liable for commission of offence u/s 304 (1) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC," Additional Sessions Judge Ajay Kumar Jain said.

The court sentenced the girl, who had been in judicial custody since November 2008, to the imprisonment already undergone during the trial period and imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on her.

According to the police, the girl had thrown the boy just after his birth from the third floor balcony of the flat to the road below.

The girl, however, had said that the infant accidently slipped out of her hands and fell down leading to his death.

The court observed that life of the girl, who had given birth to a male child in the bathroom of the house where she was living along with two other girls, was "nothing but a tale of tragedy".

The girl was an orphan and was living in an orphanage in Bawana here and after she turned 18, she started living with two other girls in a rented accommodation. She had got into physical relations with a boy who was not traceable, the court said.
It said that the girl had delivered her child in November 2008 and had not got any assistance or help from anyone.

The police had arrested the girl in November 2008.

During the trial, the girl had said that when she was in pain, she had requested her room mates to take her to a hospital but none of them came to her help and she had deliver her child without any assistance in the bathroom.

According to the girl rpt girl, at the time of the delivery, she had felt extremely unwell. She tried to lift a piece of cloth to wrap the infant, but he accidentally slipped from her hands and fell down. She had become unconscious and regained consciousness when the police came to the spot.

The court, however, said the plea of the accused that the infant slipped from her hands does not appear to be "credible" and the only inference from the facts and circumstances was that she has thrown the infant from the balcony adjoining her rented room.

It said it would have been "a normal conduct" that if the infant got slipped, "the accused would have immediately told this fact to room mates or landlady but she opted to remain silent which is nothing but an unnatural behaviour (and it) indicates towards the fact that she had thrown the infant," the judge said.

The court also said the accused had not opted to abort the infant clearly indicates that she wanted to give birth and it could be inferred that her mind got changed just after the birth.