Thane court acquits man accused of wife's murder

Thane, Sep 29 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district acquitted a man accused of setting his wife ablaze, citing that the prosecution had failed to establish the chain of circumstances linking him to the crime.

Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal acquitted Nasir Yasin Shaikh (38), a labourer, of charges under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

A copy of the order passed on September 20 was made available on Saturday.

According to the prosecution, on April 7, 2021, Nasir set his wife, Farida, ablaze after a dispute over money.

Nasir demanded money from Farida to buy clothes and a mobile phone, and when she refused, he allegedly poured kerosene over her and set her on fire, they said.

Farida was rushed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital, where her dying declaration was recorded and subsequently treated as the basis for the FIR.

Defence counsel Sagar Kolhe argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient and raised questions about the reliability of the dying declaration.

Judge Agrawal noted significant inconsistencies in the evidence presented, particularly the circumstances in which the dying declaration had been recorded.

The court also noted that the prosecution had failed to establish a concrete chain of circumstances linking Nasir to the crime, which is crucial in cases built on circumstantial evidence. PTI COR ARU