The Gauhati High Court has overturned the conviction and life sentence of a woman accused of murdering her 38-day-old infant daughter in 2016, ruling that her alleged confession was legally inadmissible due to police presence and that the trial court failed to evaluate the potential impact of postpartum psychosis.
A division bench comprising Justice M Zothankhuma and Justice Rajesh Mazumdar issued the ruling on October 6, allowing the woman’s appeal against a September 2023 trial court judgment. The High Court determined that the primary basis for her conviction could not legally stand.
Flawed Confessional Evidence
The bench set aside the conviction after finding significant procedural infirmities in the manner the woman’s statement was obtained. The confession carried the signature of a woman head constable who was present throughout the recording process.
According to the bench, the physical presence and participation of the police officer meant the accused could not be considered free from official pressure or coercion. Consequently, the court held the statement inadmissible as evidence.
The judges also clarified that remarks made by the woman during the subsequent sentencing hearing could not be repurposed as supplementary evidence to uphold a conviction, leaving the prosecution without sufficient legal foundation to sustain the murder charge.
Medical Context And Postpartum Psychosis
In its deliberations, the High Court observed that the woman’s documented statements about feeling unwell and experiencing an immediate aversion to her child pointed toward potential postpartum psychosis, a condition the trial court had overlooked.
The bench reviewed scientific literature indicating that childbirth can act as a powerful catalyst for severe psychiatric conditions. Citing data from the National Center for Biotechnology Information within the National Library of Medicine, the court noted that while postpartum psychosis is rare—affecting between one and two women per thousand—it can develop rapidly and pose grave risks to both the parent and the child.
Medical findings referenced in the ruling underscored that mothers experiencing the condition may lose touch with reality, suffer from delusions, hallucinations, and rapid cognitive or mood shifts, with infants facing danger in roughly 35 per cent of such occurrences. Although the bench emphasized that it was not tasked with formally diagnosing the woman, it noted that the lower court was obligated to investigate the condition before reaching a guilty verdict.
Background Of The 2016 Case
The legal proceedings originated in October 2016, when the woman’s husband submitted a formal missing-person report to the police after their newborn daughter disappeared overnight. The father stated that his wife initially told him she was unaware of the baby’s whereabouts.
During subsequent police questioning in the presence of local witnesses, the woman allegedly stated that she had killed the infant on October 14, 2016, and disposed of the body in the Dikhow River, adding that she had harbored negative feelings toward the child since delivery.
The appellant was represented during the High Court proceedings by advocate D Baruah.
