‘No murder charge for not saving kin from house fire’

NEW DELHI: A family member cannot be convicted for murder merely on the ground that he or she came out unscathed when the house caught fire, without making an effort to rescue other members who lost their lives, the Supreme Court held, saying that it may arise suspicion towards that member but not a proof for conviction.
Acquitting a woman who was convicted by a trial court, the verdict was upheld by the Bombay HC, of murder charges of her husband's first wife, her step son and daughter, a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and A S Bopanna said it is a natural human conduct to immediately get away from the scene and save oneself when there is any accident and it can't be the sole basis to come to the conclusive findings that she had set the house on fire to kill her relatives.
"It takes a person lot of courage or be overdriven with compassion to get back into the house to save somebody else and not doing so may be considered as morally wrong, but it cannot be a circumstance to hold a person guilty of a crime which is as serious as murder unless the other circumstances point to the accused so as to lead to an irresistible conclusion of being guilty," the bench said.
In the present case, a house caught fire at midnight but the accused came out of the house without having any injury but three other members lost their lives.
The accident took place when her husband was out-of station and the trial court came to the conclusion that she had a strong motive to commit the crime as she wanted to get rid of her husband's first family and was convicted.
Quashing the trial court and the HC verdict, the apex court said just because the appellant was not injured, it cannot be the basis to come to the conclusion that she had put the house on fire.
"Suspicion, however strong, cannot take the place of proof. Unfortunately, with the nature of observations made by the high court, it has ultimately held that the prosecution has established beyond reasonable doubt that it is the appellant only who has set the deceased and her children on fire with a view to remove them from her marital life," the bench said.