Delhi HC upholds life term to man who shot dead 2-yr-old

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence to a man convicted of shooting dead a two-year-old kid, citing evidence from the prosecution that he and the victim's father had a history of animosity.

The prosecution said that the incident occurred on February 18, 2016, when Vinod Kumar, went to the complainant's home and asked him to go drinking with him. The complainant's wife protested, at which Kumar got angry and left the place.

However, after a while, Kumar returned and opened fire from a window, hitting the complainant's young son as he was playing with him in the open space of his home, it claimed.

The complainant observed Kumar riding off on a motorbike from the scene.

After he was shot, the child was taken to a hospital but he succumbed the injuries.

A bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Gaurang Kanth dismissed the appeal filed by convict and upheld the trial court's May 2022 judgment, saying no interference was warranted.

According to the bench, the prosecution has also established a chain of evidence that is complete and not broken.

Circumstantial evidence and the fact that the convict was last seen at the spot of the incident have also been established, it said.

"This court finds no basis or reason to disagree with the inferences arrived at by the trial court convicting the appellant of the offences under Sections 302 (murder)/34 (common intention) of the IPC and Section 25 (possessing prohibited arms)/27 (punishment for using arms) of the Arms Act nor with the sentence meted-out for such offences," the bench said.

"The case of the prosecution has been based on circumstantial evidence and last seen theory. It has been proved on record by the testimony of prosecution witness 7 (child's father and complainant) that there was enmity between the appellant (Kumar) and PW-7, which establishes the motive of the appellant to commit the crime," it added.

The court also refused to accept the contention of Kumar that there was a fight between the parents of the child during which the father fired towards the mother, but accidentally, the bullet hit the toddler resulting in his death.

It said the defence raised by the convict was a mere speculation and he has not been able to prove it on record.