A Special POCSO Sessions Court has acquitted a 56-year-old school principal of rape and murder charges in connection with the death of a six-year-old tribal student, a judgment that has triggered sharp criticism in Gujarat.
The Dahod court, however, convicted the accused under lesser charges — culpable homicide not amounting to murder, wrongful confinement, and destruction of evidence — sentencing him to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposing a fine of Rs 2.10 lakh, to be paid to the victim’s father.
The incident dates back to September 19 last year, when the body of the Class 1 student was discovered in the backyard of her government primary school after she didn’t return home. The incident occurred in Torni village of Dahod district. The convict was allegedly close to right-wing organisations.
Her family, following a desperate search, found her lifeless body — sparking immediate outrage. It later emerged during the investigation that the girl had been sent to school in the principal’s car by her mother. The accused was arrested on September 22 on charges of rape and murder.
Despite a detailed chargesheet running over 1,700 pages, extensive forensic efforts including Epithelial Cell DNA profiling from the accused’s vehicle, and the examination of 31 witnesses — including teachers, child witnesses, and others who had last seen the victim with the principal — the court chose not to convict under Sections 64(2)(f) (rape by a guardian or teacher), 65(2) (rape of a child under 12), and 66 (causing death of a rape victim) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, or under relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Instead, the court accepted the defence’s argument that the forensic evidence lacked conclusiveness. Defence lawyer A.R. Chauhan told the court that the POCSO sections were introduced later by the police and that the DNA and forensic evidence failed to prove rape or murder beyond reasonable doubt. He claimed the accused was convicted solely for a negligent act that led to the child’s death, not for intentional murder. He asserted that the sentence awarded — 10 years — was the maximum permissible under the section applied.
The prosecution, however, strongly disagreed with the outcome. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Nair, appointed by the state, expressed serious disappointment, calling the verdict “unexpected.” He stated that the prosecution had argued for the death penalty, citing the “rarest of rare” doctrine, and presented what he described as detailed and cogent forensic and medical evidence. Nair highlighted that the post-mortem clearly indicated death due to smothering during a possible attempted sexual assault. He also pointed out the power imbalance — the principal being the highest authority in the school and the victim a defenceless six-year-old.
Nair told a national daily that the state would appeal the acquittal under POCSO and murder charges once the full judgment is available. He emphasized that none of the witnesses had turned hostile and that the case had relied on cutting-edge forensic techniques, including Touch DNA analysis, forensic vehicle analysis, and digital evidence. The police had even traced attempts by the accused to tamper with evidence, such as sending his car for a wash in Godhra soon after the incident.
A state government release issued in October 2024 had hailed the scientific rigor of the investigation, noting the application of forensic voice spectrography, forensic toxicology, biological analysis, and forensic chemistry to build a watertight case — efforts that ultimately did not yield the expected legal outcome in court.
As the state prepares to contest the verdict at a higher forum, the case stands as a grim reminder of the gaps between forensic science, legal burden of proof, and the justice system’s handling of crimes against children.
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