5-year-old girl appears as main witness in mother’s murder case in Rajasthan High Court

Source:-https://www.indialegallive.com

A five-year-old girl appeared in the Rajasthan High Court on Tuesday in the hearing of a Habeas Corpus petition. The girl is the main witness in the murder of her mother.

The Division Bench of Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Manoj Kumar Garg specifically allowed for the proceedings of the case in court premises instead of video conferencing.

The petition had been filed by the child’s maternal grandfather through Advocate Dipesh Beniwal. It was argued on behalf of the petitioner that his daughter Sunita Kanwar was married to Parvinder Singh, a resident of Bhiwani, Haryana. Sunita Kanwar was killed earlier this year. The girl was with her mother at the time of the murder.

The petitioner submitted that the statements of the girl were later recorded in Section 164 of the Cr.P.C. In the statement, the girl said that her father killed the mother. Despite this, on March 19, 2020, Bhiwani’s research officer and child welfare committee handed over the custody of the girl to her father and grandparents. Being the main witness, the life of the girl living with her grandparents is in danger, claimed the petitioner.

Apart from the father, the grandparents were also accused of killing the mother. The chargesheet has not been filed against the grandparents. This girl is staying with her grandfather following the directions of the Child Welfare Committee.

On the previous hearing, the Rajasthan High Court issued orders to the police administration to produce the girl in the High court.