A Panchkula court has acquitted a Uttar Pradesh resident, Sameem, in the 2022 murder of Rozina Begum, whose body bearing 17 sharp-edged injuries was found near the Chandigarh railway station yard. During the trial, key prosecution witnesses accused the police of coercion, fabricated statements and physical assault, leading the court to hold that the prosecution had failed to establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Bikramjit Aroura, in a judgment dated May 13, observed that there was neither any eyewitness nor reliable “last-seen” evidence connecting the accused to the crime. The court also noted glaring lapses in the investigation, including the absence of DNA analysis, fingerprint examination and even determination of the deceased’s blood group.
Body found with 17 wounds
Rozina Begum, wife of physically disabled Mauli Jagran resident Chhotu Khan and mother of three children, worked as a private cleaner at Police Station Mauli Jagran.
On January 14, 2022, she attended a bhandara at the police station. According to the family, when she did not return home that night, her daughter Roshni went looking for her and was told by police personnel that Rozina had left around 6 pm. Her mobile phone was switched off. The next morning, a constable informed the family that her body had been found near Line No. 8 of the Chandigarh Railway Station yard.
Doctors at Civil Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, later confirmed that Rozina had suffered 17 ante-mortem incised wounds from a sharp-edged weapon, extending from the left side of her neck to her leg. The cause of death was stated to be shock and haemorrhage resulting from those injuries.
An FIR against unknown persons was registered on January 15, 2022, at the Government Railway Police station, Chandigarh, which falls under the Haryana Police. Nearly two weeks later, on January 30, Rozina’s husband submitted another complaint alleging that Sameem had developed illicit relations with his wife and had murdered her due to resentment.
Witnesses retract police version
The prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of Shyam Lal, an e-rickshaw driver projected as the “last-seen” witness. Police claimed that Lal had seen Sameem travelling with Rozina towards the railway station after two women passengers got down from his vehicle.
However, while deposing before the court, Lal denied the claim and stated that “no male boarded or deboarded the e-rickshaw with the deceased.”
When confronted with his earlier statement to the police, Lal alleged that police officials had “illegally detained and beaten him” and had forcibly taken his thumb impression on a blank paper.
The prosecution also cited an alleged extra-judicial confession made by Sameem before former sarpanch Kartar Singh before surrendering to police.
But Singh too contradicted the prosecution story in court. He stated that Sameem was already in police custody when he was called to the police station. Singh further testified that the accused was “weeping, not walking properly and appeared to have been beaten by police.”
He also alleged that police officials had already prepared his statement and did not permit him to read it before signing.
Court cites lack of scientific evidence
Defence counsel Sameer Sethi argued that the prosecution case suffered from “serious contradictions, unreliable extra-judicial confession, hostile witnesses, doubtful recoveries, absence of scientific linkage and complete failure to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.”
While acquitting the accused, the court observed that CCTV footage placed on record did not show the accused accompanying the deceased at the relevant time.
The court also noted that the alleged murder weapon had been recovered before Sameem’s arrest, while no fingerprint or DNA examination was conducted during the investigation.
The prosecution had alleged that Sameem murdered Rozina because she was blackmailing him over their alleged illicit relationship. However, the court found that “not one witness supported this allegation.”
Giving the benefit of doubt to the accused, the court held that the prosecution had failed to establish a complete and credible chain of circumstances linking Sameem to the murder.
