Throwing 13 Months Old Child On Floor Itself 'Attempt To Murder': Madhya Pradesh High Court

Surprised by the act of a woman who threw her 13-month-old infant on the court floor during proceedings before Shahdol Magistrare, Madhya Pradesh High Court held that the same amounts to an 'attempt to murder' her own child. The court also termed the conduct of the mother, who later threw a paperweight towards the child's head, is sufficient to aggravate the situation.

“… Throwing a 13 months old child on the floor by itself would amount to an attempt to murder and throwing a paperweight towards his head would further aggravate the situation…”, the bench sitting at Jabalpur opined.

The single-judge bench of Justice Gurpal Singh Ahluwalia was considering a 482 Cr.P.C application preferred by the woman to quash an F.I.R where she has been arraigned for attacking her practicing lawyer-husband by trespassing into his chamber in 2022.

In the petition to quash the F.I.R., the woman has termed the one filed against her as nothing but a false one by way of counterblast, since she had already filed one against her husband for assaulting her a few days before.

While considering the application, the court noticed that the proceedings under Section 125 Cr.PC was pending before the Shahdohl Magistrate. The alleged incident, which the court considered as one that discloses 'a sorry state of affairs', occurred on 31.12.2022 when the Magistrate asked the applicant woman to be patient for a few more days till the payment of arrears meant to be made by her husband, who had just gotten out of jail.

However, the woman refused to pay heed to the presiding officer and created a ruckus inside the courtroom. She also blamed her child as the cause of her problems before throwing the infant across the court floor. The woman also blamed the court for shielding the respondent husband who was on bail.

“…She further picked up a paperweight which was lying on the table and threw towards her child by shouting that her child is the cause of trouble and, therefore, she would kill him but luckily the paperweight did not hit the child and passed near his temporal region..”, the court observed by referring to FIR No.774/2022 registered at Police Station Beohari, District Shahdol for the offense under Section 307 of IPC.

The court also added that her child would have died if the paperweight were to hit on his head. A notice was also issued to the applicant under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act for repeatedly shouting inside the court and disrupting the proceedings despite clear instructions from the Magistrate to pick up her child, who was lying on the floor.

“…She made an attempt to kill her own child. Only a proceeding under Section 125 of Cr.P.C. was going on. If the applicant was not convinced with any order passed by the court, then she had an opportunity to assail the same before the higher Court…”, the single judge bench also pointed out that the applicant woman had no authority to throw the paperweight against her child with 'a clear intention to kill him'.

Considering the surrounding circumstances, the court refused to adopt a 'sympathetic view' and deemed it fit not to quash the F.I.R. registered against the woman for assaulting her husband.

“Under these circumstances, it cannot be said that FIR which has been lodged by the complainant against the applicant, according to which, the applicant went to the chambers of the Advocate of her husband and committed an offence cannot be said to be an afterthought and false”, the court held.

For Petitioner: Adv. Bheem Choudhary

For Respondent State: Swati Aseem George – DY. GA

Case Title: Bharti Patel v. State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr.

Case No: Misc. Criminal Case No. 45545 of 2023

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 73

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