SC tells courts not to reject statement of victims' kin

“Their (witnesses) relationship with the deceased per se would not be a ground to reject their evidence. The trial court committed serious error in rejecting the evidence of Prosecution Witness-8 and PW-9 (two witnesses) only on the basis that they are related to the deceased,” said a bench of Justice B Sudershan Reddy and Justice S S Nijjar while upholding the conviction by the Karnataka High Court.

The bench upheld the conviction of three persons who were accused of killing two in Bijapur of Karnataka nearly 15 years ago.