9-year-old’s testimony saves mother from murder charge

Her nine-year-old daughter’s testimony may have helped acquit Ghatkopar resident Hasina Bano (25) who was accused of murdering her husband due to her alleged affair with another man. HT Correspondent reports.

Her nine-year-old daughter’s testimony may have helped acquit Ghatkopar resident Hasina Bano (25) who was accused of murdering her husband due to her alleged affair with another man.

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The trial court also acquitted Mohammed Shafiq Ramzan Ali Manzoori (35), who Hasina (25) was allegedly in the relationship with, for want of evidence connecting the two with the murder.

Hasina’s husband Rashid Khan (32) was found dead in his Ghatkopar house on June 30, 2007. Police booked Hasina and Manzoori after Khan’s relatives alleged that the murder was a fallout of their affair.

The prosecution had submitted evidence from eight witnesses, in addition to the medical evidence, which suggested that injuries inside the skull had led to Rashid’s death, indicating homicide.

One of them, Mohammed Ashar Siddiqui alias Lalu, a friend of the victim, testified that the two were having an affair, and that Khan had asked him to keep an eye on them.

It was Hasina’s nine-year-old daughter’s testimony that contradicted Lalu’s claims. Deposing as a defence witness, she said Lalu would enter their house, beat the siblings and leave with food meant for the children.

Another prosecution witness said he had seen Manzoori leave Khan’s house at 2.45 am on the day of the incident. But he failed to explain what he was doing outside their house at that hour when defence lawyer Vijay Desai cross-examined him.

The court acquitted the two for want of concrete evidence connecting them with Khan’s murder.