Court acquits father-son duo accused of murdering man in Thane

Thane, Jan 3 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 69-year-old man and his son accused in a 2022 murder case, citing a lack of evidence against the duo.

Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal on Friday found Avinash Rambadan Yadav (39) and his father Rambadan Barsan Yadav not guilty of murder and assault charges.

The duo were accused of killing Sunil Jagannath Yadav (23) in June 2022 over an alleged love affair with Avinash's daughter.

According to the prosecution, the victim was tied up and beaten at the father-son duo's house in the Upvan area of the city in the early hours of June 26, 2022. He succumbed to his injuries three days later at KEM Hospital, having sustained 46 blunt-force wounds.

The court noted the delay in lodging a complaint and held that the testimonies of neighbours and the victim's family did not appear in tandem.

The defence argued that residents mistook Sunil for a thief because he was covered in wheat flour and running.

"Considering the version of defence that the victim had wheat flour all over his body... and that he was running, people in the area thought that he was a thief and they had assaulted him, is not entirely improbable," the judge said, while giving the accused the benefit of the doubt. PTI COR ARU