A special court in Una, Himachal Pradesh, has sentenced Asif Mohammad, a 28-year-old resident of Amb, to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 for the brutal murder of a 14-year-old girl in April 2022. The victim was killed by slitting her neck with a paper cutter.
Court Ruling and Charges
Special Judge Naresh Kumar held Mohammad guilty of murder, house trespass, and destruction of evidence. However, the court acquitted him of charges under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (using criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and Section 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, citing lack of evidence. The judge noted that semen was not detected in the vaginal and vulval swabs and smears of the deceased, as per reports from the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. The court ruled that the case did not fall within the category of the rarest of rare cases warranting the death penalty.
Background of the Case
Investigators found that Mohammad had previously worked as a plumber at the victim's house in 2021 and regularly supplied newspapers to the family, making him familiar with the household. A total of 28 witnesses were examined during the trial. The minor girl was found murdered at her residence on April 5, 2022, when she was alone at home. The accused was arrested by police two days later, on April 7.
Prosecution's Case
According to the prosecution, Mohammad entered the house and slit the girl's throat with a paper cutter, resulting in fatal injuries to vital neck structures, including the trachea and major blood vessels. The case was based entirely on circumstantial evidence, as there were no eyewitnesses to the crime. The court observed, "Unfortunately the sole witness of the occurrence was murdered and therefore, the motive could not be proved, but this is not a case of suspicion; rather the evidence led on record clearly proves that it is the accused who has committed the murder."
Forensic Evidence
During the investigation, police recovered a paper cutter from a garbage dump following Mohammad's disclosure statement. Forensic examination revealed that DNA found on the paper cutter matched that of the deceased minor girl, establishing it as the murder weapon.
