Ritika (right) stood with her back to the courtroom when she appeared in the Auckland District Court in 2021 on child neglect charges. An interpreter stood on the left. Photo / Jason Oxenham
A mother sent to jail for fracturing her baby's ribs and causing her brain to bleed has had her appeal against conviction dismissed.
Ritika, who goes by one name only, was sentenced in June last year for inflicting injuries on her 8-week-old daughter in November 2018, after sending a series of angry text messages to her husband.
She was jailed last year for just over two and a half years after being found guilty by a District Court jury of three charges, including injuring with intent to injure or with reckless disregard, wounding with intent to injure or with reckless disregard and ill-treatment or neglect of a child.
Her husband, Sandeep Kumar, was acquitted on a charge of ill-treatment or neglect of a child.
The Court of Appeal has today dismissed an appeal bid on the basis that there had been a miscarriage of justice.
At the trial Ritika's family had written letters of support for her, and denial of any offending by her.
November 7, 2018, was the first day of the traditional Diwali festival.
Kumar, who had recently started a new job working nightshifts at a local supermarket, had the day off.
Following a disagreement with Ritika that morning about doing household chores, he left the family home and was away for most of the day.
The Crown had argued that this infuriated Ritika. The evidence confirmed that she sent Kumar a total of 296 communications (phone calls or text messages) that day.
A series of text messages she sent throughout the afternoon included a threat to drink bleach, another took an oath on the baby's life, and a message (sent at 5.27 pm and again at 5.36 pm) which read: "Baby is crying a lot, I don't know what happened."
Kumar arrived home shortly after.
At around 11am the next morning Ritika and Kumar took the baby to their GP as they were worried about her condition, which the GP described as "terrible".
Thinking it might have been meningitis the GP called urgently for an ambulance.
Following the baby's admission to Starship hospital, she started having seizures. A CT scan revealed a fractured skull and brain haemorrhages.
Further injuries showed up during examinations over the following two days.
The injuring charge against Ritika related to the baby's multiple rib fractures and the wounding charge related to subdural (brain) haemorrhages. Evidence about the other injuries was led at trial but did not form the basis of any additional charges against Ritika.
The two key issues were how the injuries for which she had been charged had been caused - that being whether the jury was sure that they were non-accidental; and if so, whether it was sure that it was Ritika who had inflicted them.
The Court of Appeal said there was sufficient evidence to conclude that the first of two grounds of the appeal did not disclose a miscarriage of justice. It said the medical evidence was "overwhelming" that the collection of injuries sustained by the baby was non-accidental.
Once that fact was accepted, and on the evidence before the jury, the inescapable conclusion was that it was Ritika who had caused those injuries.
A key strand of the Crown's case against Ritika was the nature and extent of her (alleged) lies, which the Crown relied on as circumstantial evidence of guilt.
Her second ground for appeal was the failure by the Judge to give a lies direction.
A lies direction was often requested and given when a defendant accepted that he or she had lied.
The Appeal Court said it was unfortunate that there was no discussion between the Judge and counsel for Ritika about whether a lies direction ought to be given.
"But in the particular circumstances of this case, we do not consider that the absence of a lies direction is capable of giving rise to a miscarriage of justice," the decision said.
It was also difficult to see how Ritika's position would have been improved had a lies direction been given, the court said.
It did not consider that the grounds of appeal, taken together or individually, disclosed a miscarriage of justice, and therefore dismissed the appeal against conviction.
It was reported last year from a police statement that the child had been placed under the care of Oranga Tamariki and her recovery was "ongoing".
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