The Himachal Pradesh High Court has convicted Ram Lal for raping and murdering his sister-in-law and sentenced him to life imprisonment. This judgment was passed by the Division Bench comprising Justice RB Misra and Justice Sanjay Karol while reversing the judgment passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, fast track court, Shimla, vide which it had acquitted the accused under Sections 376, 302 and 201 of the IPC.
While setting aside the acquittal order of the trial court, the Bench observed “that the Additional Sessions Judge has not made proper and correct appraisal of the prosecution witnesses, medical evidence as well as material on record, as such, the Additional Sessions Judge is not legally correct, therefore, the judgment passed by the trial court is set aside and we hold the accused guilty of offence punishable under Sections 376 and 302 of the IPC and he is convicted and sentenced for the aforesaid offences.”
The prosecution said the accused had sexually assaulted the victim before killing her in Dayandli village of Chopal in Shimla district on July 25, 2003.
