Minor eyewitness’s testimony seals conviction in 2020 Pune double murder; man gets life term

Pune:A Pune district court has convicted a 36-year-old labourer for the double murder of his estranged wife and the man she was living with in Daund taluka nearly six years ago, holding that the testimony of a child eyewitness was trustworthy, natural and sufficient to establish the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt

Pune:

A Pune district court has convicted a 36-year-old labourer for the double murder of his estranged wife and the man she was living with in Daund taluka nearly six years ago, holding that the testimony of a child eyewitness was trustworthy, natural and sufficient to establish the accused’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Additional sessions judge V C Barde of the Baramati court on July 2 convicted Pramod alias Pappu Ankush Pawar under sections 302, 176 and 177 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the murder of his estranged wife, Hashibai alias Manisha Jadhav and her partner, Gulchand alias Deepak Waghmare on the night of July 30, 2020, outside a hut in Khutbav village under the Yavat police station limits. The court sentenced Pappu to imprisonment for life and imposed a fine of ₹5,000 for the murder charge, in addition to separate, six-month sentences under sections 176 and 177 of the IPC.

According to the prosecution, the accused attacked Hashibai with a bamboo stick and Gulchand with a sickle after a quarrel. The couple’s bodies were found the following morning outside Devidas Jadhav’s hut where they had spent the night. The prosecution had to prove that the accused had committed the double murder by intentionally causing the death of Hashibai and Gulchand. The prosecution relied primarily on the testimony of Balabai, who was nine years old at the time of the incident and witnessed the assault along with her father, who later died before conclusion of the trial.

The court accepted Balabai’s account that after hearing cries outside the hut, she saw the accused assaulting the victims. The judgment records that she consistently identified the accused, the bamboo stick, the sickle and the clothes recovered during the investigation. “She has identified the person present in the video conferencing to be the accused having the name Pappu,” the court noted.

Judge Barde rejected the defence’s challenge to the child’s testimony and observed, “Balabai is the eye witness to the incident cited by the prosecution being direct evidence of the incident. Her evidence duly testified on cross-examination regarding assault on both the deceased by the accused is intact. Nothing is brought on record to disbelieve her version.”

Addressing the defence’s contention that a discrepancy existed over whether the sickle had been picked up from the grass or from beneath a pillow, the court held that it was “not fatal to the prosecution case”. Judge Barde observed, “The said discrepancy cannot be said to be a major discrepancy affecting the prosecution case to raise doubt” and added that the sequence of the assault narrated by the child witness remained consistent throughout.

Medical evidence also corroborated the prosecution’s case. The post-mortem revealed multiple contusions on Hashibai’s body, while Gulchand suffered fatal head injuries and multiple fractures. The medical officer opined that the injuries were consistent with the bamboo stick and sickle recovered during the investigation. The court observed that the evidence suggested, “a dispute arising out of the relations of Hashibai earlier with the accused and then with the deceased Gulchand.”

The judgment also relied on the Supreme Court (SC) precedent concerning child witnesses. Holding the accused guilty of the double murder as well as of furnishing false identity details to investigators, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment, while directing that the period spent in custody since July 31, 2020 be set off under the law.