Byculla jail inmate murder case: Charges framed against 6 prison staffers

A special women’s court on Tuesday framed charges against six jail staff for murder of Byculla jail inmate Manjula Shetye, in June 2017. All six pleaded not guilty.

The court has charged the six jail staffers - jailer Manisha Pokharkar, and constables Bindu Naikade, Waseema Shaikh, Shital Shegaonkar, Surekha Gulve and Aarti Shingne for plotting and carrying out a criminal conspiracy, murder, criminal intimidation and destruction of murder evidence.

The six have chosen to face the trial and denied all the allegations. The court will await submission of documents and evidence following which the trial will begin.

As per the prosecution case, Shetye, a life convict, was allegedly assaulted by the staff of Byculla jail on June 23 last year. The police recorded the complaint of an inmate, who was an eyewitness, on June 25, 2017.

Shetye was allegedly brutally assaulted by the jail staff because she had complained about missing eggs and loaves of bread from the morning ration. The probe was handed over to Mumbai crime branch following the uproar in the jail. The crime branch arrested the six staff on July 1.

The prosecution alleged that prior to being arrested the accused had destroyed Shetye’s clothes and also disposed of the wooden stick used by them to assault the victim. Further, they are charged for threatening the inmates, who were witnesses to the assault, with the same consequences if they revealed anything to the authorities.