Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Dad convicted of killing 3-year-old son, Mom--based on testimony of 5-year-old son (Jabalpur, India)

Daddy almost got away with murder. At first the court acquitted this "well-connected" killer daddy because they chose to ignore the traumatized and injured 5-year-old son. But a higher court set aside the acquittal order. 

Dad is identified as RKS MALHOTRA.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Five-year-old-sends-father-to-jail/articleshow/16934413.cms

Five-year-old sends father to jail

Manjari Mishra, TNN | Oct 24, 2012, 02.53AM IST

Relying on the testimony of a 5-year-old, the MP high court has sentenced a Kanpur chartered accountant to life imprisonment for murdering his mistress and a three-year-old son.

JABALPUR: Relying on the testimony of a 5-year-old, the MP high court has sentenced a Kanpur chartered accountant to life imprisonment for murdering his mistress and a three-year-old son. A division bench comprising Justice Rakesh Saxena and Justice TK Kaushal set aside the acquittal order passed by the trial court categorically bringing on record that "evidence of the child witness has not been properly appreciated."

"Finding of the acquittal court was given in utter disregard of evidence... such findings are perverse and require re-appreciation and interference," the verdict delivered in the second week of this month said.

Abhinav, a kindergarten student, was found weeping in Bhairav Ghati jungles in Panna district by a truck driver soon after the crime was committed in April 1989. The boy was naked, incoherent and bore injury marks on his stomach. He was taken to a police station and and the same day Mandla police recovered decomposing bodies of his 30-year-old mother Sushma and younger sibling Shashank from the nearby forest. According to the prosecution, RKS Malhotra, a politically well-connected CA had been living with Sushma and the two sons in Sarojani Nagar locality in Kanpur for six years. The relationship between the couple soured after Sushma began to demand a share for herself and the boys in his property.

Annoyed by the bickering, Malhotra went back to live with his wife and parents in another part of the city and Sushma continued to live in the rented house with her kids. Unable to withstand pressure form Sushma, he hatched a plot to eliminate her and the kids and offered them a trip to Khajuraho. On the fateful afternoon, the man, with the help of an accomplice, took them to an isolated spot in Bhairav Ghati in Panna and strangulated them even as Abhinav fled the scene. The highly traumatized child disclosed his and his parent's identity to Mandla police and also recounted the gruesome incident that he had witnessed.