‘Fatka gang’ member gets life term for killing his associate

Vijayan Thevar has been convicted primarily based on the CCTV footage covering the spot which had captured the entire incident. In the footage, it can be seen that Thevar, a known mobile thief, hammered the victim’s head with a paver block while the latter was asleep at a bus stop near Azad Maidan and later sexually abused the deceased, Vikram Rakma Ninama

Mumbai: The sessions court on Friday sentenced a 65-year-old “Fatka Gang” member to life imprisonment for killing one of his associates in South Mumbai in April 2018 over a dispute over sharing of stolen booty.

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Vijayan Thevar has been convicted primarily based on the CCTV footage covering the spot which had captured the entire incident. In the footage, it can be seen that Thevar, a known mobile thief, hammered the victim’s head with a paver block while the latter was asleep at a bus stop near Azad Maidan and later sexually abused the deceased, Vikram Rakma Ninama.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of April 28, 2018. “The nature of injuries, the repeated assaults by using pieces of stones on the vital part of the head over a period of time, examining the deceased and assaulting again, the nature of injuries which have resulted in damage to the skull as well as brain clearly suggest that the accused assaulted the deceased with the sole intention to cause his death,” the sessions judge A Subramaniam said while convicting Thevar.

Early in the morning, a constable spotted Ninama lying injured in the leg space of a bus stop and took him to the hospital where he was declared brought dead and a murder case was registered in the matter.

The police started the probe by scanning the CCTV footage. Meanwhile, with the help of the locals, the investigators managed to establish the identity of the victim who was also a drug addict.

“Both the deceased and the accused were part of a gang which mostly robbed railway passengers in and around the CSMT area. There was a dispute between the victim and the accused relating to sharing of some articles and a mobile phone which Ninama had stolen but had not shared with the other members of the gang,” said police inspector Subhash Borate, who was part of the investigating team.

“The accused was searching for Ninama and as he found him fast asleep on the footpath near Azad Maidan, he hammered his head with a paver block and later committed unnatural sex with him. This was captured in the CCTV camera which helped us crack the case,” Borate added.

Public prosecutors Jaisingh Desai and S E Soshte examined 14 witnesses to establish the identity of Thevar and establish that the person seen assaulting the victim in the CCTV footage was the 65-year-old with the help of witness testimony.

“The accused can certainly be said to have been identified conclusively by the sanitation block manager, police officers and the panch witnesses and the same is duly having a stamp of approval from none other than the forensic analysis of the said videos,” the court said.

“In such circumstances, the test of satisfaction is duly complied with, as required in a criminal trial. Thus, I hold that the person seen assaulting the victim in the CCTV footage is none other than the accused himself. Considering this aspect, the presence of the accused and him being the sole author of the said injuries is duly established,” the court concluded.