On April 4, 2022, the bodies of a five-year-old and her three-year-old sister were discovered in the Kudwa canal near Rajiv Sagar Dam. Initial police investigation focused on Sonwane, the girls’ uncle, based on a witness’s claim that they were last seen with him.
A special court in Balaghat sentenced Sonwane to death on January 31, 2024. However, Sonwane challenged the verdict in the High Court. A division bench led by Justice Vivek Agrawal and Justice Avnindra Kumar Singh found the police probe marred by negligence and contradictions. Key discrepancies included inconsistent witness statements about the color of the bicycle—first described as golden, later silver—and the investigating officer’s delay in recording statements under Section 161 CrPC until after the post-mortem, which undermined the prosecution’s timeline.
The post-mortem report revealed the girls died 12–18 hours before their bodies were recovered, with partially digested food in their stomachs that remains for only one to two hours, further casting doubt on the police’s “last seen” theory. Critically, the grandmother’s on-scene testimony was omitted from the prosecution’s evidence, despite her presence during the incident.
Considering these investigation flaws, the High Court revoked Sonwane’s death sentence, ordered his immediate release, and directed the state government to pay him Rs.1 lakh compensation. In a landmark move to ensure police accountability, the court instructed the Balaghat Superintendent of Police to recover Rs.1 lakh from the investigating officer responsible for the flawed investigation.
This verdict underscores the imperative for impartial and thorough police investigations, especially in capital punishment cases, to safeguard against wrongful convictions and uphold justice.
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