The Punjab and Haryana High Court has acquitted four men who were earlier sentenced to death for the alleged rape and murder of two minor sisters. A Division Bench of Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri set aside the trial court's conviction, holding that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
Background of the Case
The matter goes back to August 2021, when two minor sisters died after being rushed to a hospital in Narela, Delhi. Their mother initially told doctors and police that both girls had been bitten by a snake. Three days later, she filed a fresh complaint naming four neighbours - Arun, Phool Chand, Dukhan and Ram Suhag - accusing them of rape and forcible poisoning. An FIR was registered at Kundli police station, Sonipat, and the four men were arrested and put on trial. In November 2023, the Sessions Court, Sonipat, convicted all of them and awarded the death penalty, along with other sentences under the IPC and the POCSO Act.
Court's Observations
Hearing the murder reference and the criminal appeal together, the High Court found several gaps in the prosecution's case. The victims' mother turned hostile during the trial, denying the contents of both her written complaint and her statement recorded before the magistrate, and she did not identify any of the accused in court. The Bench also flagged a contradiction: she had named all four men in her complaint, yet told the magistrate the very next day that she did not know their names.
On the forensic side, DNA samples of the accused could not be matched with material recovered from the crime scene, and a cloth allegedly used in the offence was also not linked to them. The Court further held that the disclosure statements said to have led to the recovery of a poison bottle did not meet the legal test under Section 27 of the Evidence Act - the provision that allows police disclosures to be used as evidence only if they genuinely lead to a new discovery - since police records showed the item had already been found before the disclosures were made.
The Bench observed:
"Given the above, there is no legally admissible evidence linking any of the accused to the commission of rape against any of the victims or to the murder of any of the victims by forcibly administering poison."
Decision
Holding that the prosecution could not connect the four men to the crime beyond reasonable doubt, the High Court set aside their conviction and death sentences and acquitted them of all charges.
The murder reference sent by the trial court for confirmation of the death penalty was dismissed, and the Court directed their immediate release on personal bonds.
Case Details
Case Title: State of Haryana v. Arun and others
Case Number: MRC-9-2023 & CRA-D-1522-2023
Judges: Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri
Decision Date: August 26, 2026
