Gujarat HC acquits man in woman’s murder case, quashes life sentence over flawed circumstantial evidence

Gujarat High Court has overturned the life imprisonment conviction of Siddik Kumbhar in the murder of, the wife of Gafur Sama, citing major gaps in the prosecution's circumstantial evidence chain.

The case stemmed from woman’s disappearance on July 14, 2015. According to the prosecution, she left home to beg and never returned. Her brother, who had gone to Mumbai for a function, returned on July 15 after being informed by his brother-in-law. The two began searching and discovered her decomposed body around 1.30 pm the same day, covered in blood with injuries to her face and neck.

The Bhuj Sessions Court had convicted the accused, sentencing him to life imprisonment, primarily relying on the "last seen together" theory, phone call records between the accused and deceased, and a confessional statement allegedly made by the accused to police and during medical examination history.

The prosecution alleged long-standing illicit relations between the accused and the women. However, the high court, that the conviction could not stand. It emphasised that in purely circumstantial evidence cases, the prosecution must prove a complete chain of links — including motive, last seen together, and recovery of the weapon — pointing solely to the accused's guilt.

The court rejected the "last seen" theory, noting it relied heavily on the accused’s confessional statement to police, which is inadmissible under law. No Section 164 CrPC statement before a magistrate was recorded. The accused's alleged history of sexual relations given to the doctor during his July 17, 2015, medical examination post-arrest lacked corroboration, as no injuries or marks were found on his body, and FSL samples yielded no incriminating results.

Phone call records were undermined by the recovery of the accused's mobile from the deceased's husband, raising doubts. The court also questioned the husband's conduct: he made no immediate police report or search efforts upon his wife's disappearance, waiting for his brother-in-law from Mumbai to initiate action and filed complaint.