Ghatkopar resident gets life term for killing acquaintance

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Monday sentenced a Ghatkopar resident to life imprisonment for killing his acquaintance, suspecting him of having tipped off police about him which led to his arrest in another case

MUMBAI: The sessions court on Monday sentenced a Ghatkopar resident to life imprisonment for killing his acquaintance, suspecting him of having tipped off police about him which led to his arrest in another case.

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The incident took place on the night of May 1, 2017, when the accused, Sachin Shevankar, used a beer bottle to attack the victim, Irfan Nasir Shaikh, over his suspicions that he had given a tip-off involving a previous police case in which Shevankar was arrested.

Shevankar’s counsel pointed out that the incident might have happened under provocation, especially under the influence of alcohol. Requesting acquittal, Shevankar’s advocate Nitin Sejpal submitted that the offence would fall under section 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) committed with knowledge that the act would result in death.

Principal district judge, A Subramaniam rejected the defence and convicted the accused of the murder. “Motive is always a weak piece of evidence and failure to establish motive does not disprove the case of prosecution,” said the judge while convicting him. The complaint was lodged by the brother of the deceased, who found Shevankar with the broken bottle, along with co-accused Bharat Hursale at the place of the incident. The victim was taken to Rajawadi Hospital, where he passed away at around 3:30am. Following Hursale’s death, his trial was abated, leaving Shevankar as the sole accused. The prosecution submitted that the assault was pre-mediated and motivated since Shevankar met the victim late at night while carrying the beer bottle. The prosecution added that the deceased was attacked on a vital part of his body, which establishes the intention of the accused.

Shevankar’s advocate said that there is suppression of evidence while pointing out that the weapon might be a Koyata instead of a beer bottle. Further, they submitted that the deceased was under the influence of alcohol, adding that the incident took place unexpectedly.

After listening to both sides, the court observed that the medical officer established the case as homicidal death due to hemorrhagic shock caused by a cut puncture injury on the neck. Rejecting the possibility of a different weapon being used, the court noted that there was no proper evidence to prove that the weapon was not a beer bottle. Rejecting the defence argument that the accused did not intend the murder, the judge said, “The accused is seen to have gone at about 1am (midnight) to the deceased and then in cold blood assaulted him on the neck causing his death and thus prosecution has established that the accused has committed offence under Section 302 of IPC”.