HC frees woman who killed husband when she was minor

A woman, who spent 15 years in the prison for murdering her husband, was set free by the High Court recently - because she was a minor when she committed the offence.

Geeta (name changed), should have been tried by juvenile justice board, and the maximum sentence she could have got was three years' jail term. Instead, she was tried by sessions court, and was given a life sentence.

Geeta was convicted for murdering her husband on January 22, 1994. Prosecution story was that she had an affair with another man, and two of them conspired to kill husband.

A trial court in Beed found her guilty and sentenced her to life imprisonment. However, earlier this year, Geeta filed a writ petition before the Aurangabad bench of the High Court contending that she was juvenile at the time of the offence.

Her lawyer, advocate Rebecca Gonsalves said that she failed to take this plea earlier because she is not much educated, and was not aware of the Juvenile Justice Act. However, even when she took this plea, it was difficult for her to prove that she was a minor when offence was committed. Her illiterate parents could not tell which year she was born. Her father could only reveal that she was married off in 1992.

Advocate Gonsalves, however, argued that her school leaving certificate states her date of birth to be August 14, 1980. High Court then ordered medical test, which revealed that her age must be between 25 and 35.

High Court then concluded that she could not have been older than fourteen at the time of offence, and set aside her life sentence, ordering her release last week.