Allahabad High Court Acquits Mother Previously Sentenced to Death in Auraiya Triple Murder Case
PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad High Court has overturned the conviction of a woman who had been sentenced to death for the alleged murder of her three children, citing a lack of credible evidence and significant procedural flaws in the prosecution’s case.
A division bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Jai Krishna Upadhyay set aside the lower court’s verdict, which had previously sentenced the mother, identified as Priyanka, to death and her alleged partner, Ashish—the younger brother of her late husband—to life imprisonment. The court has ordered the immediate release of both individuals, provided they are not required in any other ongoing legal matters.
Questionable Testimony and Tutored Evidence
The case originated from the tragic deaths of three young boys—Madhav (6), Aditya (5), and Mangal (4)—whose bodies were discovered in the Sengur river in Auraiya on June 27, 2024. The prosecution had built its entire narrative around the survival of the eldest son, who allegedly witnessed the incident.
However, during the appeal, the High Court bench scrutinized the statements provided by the child, who was eight years old at the time. The judges observed that the testimony was riddled with “irreconcilable contradictions.” Furthermore, the court noted that the child’s account bore the “clear hallmarks of tutoring,” suggesting that the narrative presented to the police and the trial court may have been coached rather than based on the boy’s actual memory of events.
Inconsistencies in the Investigation
The prosecution’s theory was that Priyanka, motivated by an illicit relationship with her brother-in-law, Ashish, had taken her four children to a bridge over the Sengur river at 5:00 AM with the intention of drowning them. They claimed the pair succeeded in killing three of the children, while the eldest, Sonu, managed to survive.
The reliability of the First Information Report (FIR) was further undermined by conflicting testimonies from the prosecution’s own witnesses. The FIR, filed by a man named Manish, claimed that the child had reached out to him to recount the horrifying incident. Yet, in subsequent proceedings, Manish contradicted his own initial report, claiming instead that he had received information from the local village head (gram pradhan) and was entirely unaware of the identity of the original informant.
A Failure of Prosecution
In its detailed order, the High Court emphasized that the prosecution failed to establish the guilt of the appellants beyond a reasonable doubt. The bench noted that the gaps in the witness accounts were too vast to sustain a conviction, particularly one as severe as a death sentence.
“The prosecution has failed to build a bridge between the evidence and the alleged crime,” the court noted, highlighting that the circumstantial evidence was insufficient to hold the pair accountable for such a grave accusation. By setting aside the lower court’s judgment, the Allahabad High Court has underscored the importance of ensuring that witness testimony—especially from minors—must be devoid of external influence and corroborated by consistent facts to withstand judicial scrutiny.
Both Priyanka and Ashish are expected to walk free following the court’s directive, bringing a dramatic end to a case that had shocked the local community in Auraiya.
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