The Supreme Court on October 1 acquitted a man convicted in a Sikkim child-rape and murder case, holding that the circumstantial evidence did not establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Atul S. Chandurkar set aside the trial court’s conviction, which the High Court had upheld, and ordered his release unless he was required in another case.
The judgment found serious gaps in the claim that the accused was last seen with the child. It also questioned reliance on material recovered from a spot ordinarily visible to other people and found that forensic results did not establish the necessary connection to the victim. An accused person’s answers during examination could not repair missing prosecution evidence.
Sikkim’s counsel had defended the conviction, arguing that the circumstances and the accused’s explanations supported the findings of both lower courts. The defence disputed that chain of evidence. The Supreme Court accepted the appeal and granted the benefit of doubt. This report withholds family relationships and identifying details of the child; the ruling does not establish who was responsible for the crime.