Allahabad High Court upholds man's conviction for murder of infant as part of human sacrifice

The Allahabad High Court recently upheld a trial court's decision to convict and sentence a man to life imprisonment for stabbing an 11-month-old infant to death, allegedly as part of a human sacrifice ritual in 2003. .A bench of Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Mohd Azhar Husain Idrisi also condemned the prevalence of such human sacrifice practices in remote areas of the country. ."The instant case is a classic case of blind faith and unfortunate realities of our times still prevalent in remote areas. Human/child sacrifice has been practiced on a number of different occasions and in many different cultures. Human/child sacrifice is typically intended to bring good fortune and to appease the Gods, which in our opinion, shocks the conscience of the civilized society and is to be condemned by one and all, to curb such social evils," the Court said. .The case can be traced back to April 2003.Two days before the crime took place, on April 10, 2003, the deceased infant's father had taken his wife to an "exorcist" at a nearby annual fair seeking a treatment for her mental illness. Their infant baby was also with them, along with their daughter and son-in-law. On April 12, when the family was having morning meals near the fair, a man is said to have abruptly arrived at the spot while armed with a knife and seized the baby before mercilessly stabbing the child to death.The infant was rushed to the hospital for medical treatment, but passed away on the way. .In 2004, a trial court convicted the accused man, Rajendra Prasad Gaur, for the crime. He was sentence to life imprisonment and a ₹5,000 fine. After Gaur challenged this verdict, the High Court confirmed the trial court's findings on March 19 this year. .The Court observed that the testimony of all four eyewitnesses, with a few minor contradictions, did not exhibit any significant shortcomings to raise doubts about their credibility.The Court further noted that all the eyewitnesses were present at the time and place of the incident, and that there was no reason for them to spare the actual assailant and falsely implicate someone else..With these observations, the Court upheld the conviction and sentence imposed on Gaur by the trial court. Advocates SS Singh appeared for the appellant (Gaur).Advocate Chetan Chatterjee assisted the Court as an amicus curiae. Additional Advocate General Jitendra Kumar Jaiswal appeared for the State..[Read Order]