Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court has acquitted a woman who had been sentenced to death for the alleged murder of her three children, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.The court also acquitted the children’s uncle, who had been accused of being the woman’s paramour and accomplice in the crime.A division bench of Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Jai Krishna Upadhyay found that the testimony of the sole surviving child witness, aged eight years, was riddled with irreconcilable contradictions and bore clear signs of tutoring.Setting aside the convictions and sentences of Priyanka and her alleged paramour Ashish alias Daini, the court ordered their immediate release, provided they are not wanted in any other case.Priyanka had been sentenced to death by the trial court, while Ashish was awarded life imprisonment. Both challenged the verdict before the high court through criminal appeals.The case relates to the deaths of three children, aged six, five and four years, whose bodies were recovered from Sengur river in Auraiya on June 27, 2024.According to the FIR, Priyanka, in collusion with Ashish, had taken her four sons to a bridge over Sengur river at around 5 am. Ashish is the younger brother of her deceased husband, and the prosecution alleged that the two were involved in an illicit relationship. It was alleged that they sought to eliminate the children so they could continue their relationship.The FIR further stated that the accused attempted to drown all four children. While the eldest son survived, the other three died.The surviving child told investigators that a village pradhan rescued him and took him home, where he narrated the incident, leading to police intervention. He also claimed that he had informed his uncle Manish, the first informant, about the incident and that the latter got the FIR registered.However, Manish’s testimony contradicted the child’s version. He stated that the village pradhan had informed the police about the deaths and that he received information from the pradhan, not from the child. He further said he did not know the name of the person who had initially informed him about the incident.In its judgment dated Sept 22, the high court allowed the appeals filed by both accused, set aside the trial court’s judgment, and acquitted them.
