Mentally Disabled Witness Unfit to Testify: Kerala High Court Acquits Death Row Convict

The Kerala High Court acquitted Parimal Sahu, a migrant worker from Assam, who had been sentenced to death for the 2018 rape and murder of a 60-year-old widow.

 The Bench held that the testimony of the victim’s intellectually disabled son was inadmissible since no voir dire test was conducted to assess his competence.

The Court also ruled that Sahu’s alleged confession to doctors was inadmissible under Section 26 of the Evidence Act, as it was made while in police custody.

The Court, observing that forensic evidence failed to link Sahu to the crime, set aside his conviction and death sentence.

[State of Kerala v Parimal Sahu]