Thane court acquits man in 25-year-old murder case over lack of evidence

Thane, Jul 25 (PTI) A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has acquitted a 46-year-old man accused of murdering a woman 25 years ago, citing lack of evidence and unreliable witness testimony.

Sessions judge S B Agrawal acquitted Shambhubhai Manubhai Rawal of charges under sections 302 (murder), 452 (house trespass), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

A copy of the order dated July 23 was made available on Thursday.

The sessions court had earlier acquitted Kundan Rawal, the husband of the victim Kunda Rawal, for her murder. In 2020, Rawal's associate Shambhubhai was arrested, and a fresh trial was initiated.

The prosecution claimed that Kundan Rawal had conspired with Shambhubhai and a third accused, Suresh Nhavi (absconding), to murder his wife.

Hansa Govindbhai Rawal, a relative who allegedly overheard the murder conspiracy, claimed that Kundan Rawal had offered Rs 5,000 to have his wife killed.

On the day of the incident on February 17, 2000, Kundan Rawal had informed police that on returning home around 1.30 pm, his children reported their mother was missing. She was later found unconscious near the bathroom.

A postmortem revealed death by asphyxia, along with abrasions on her neck and bruises on her jaw and forearm, suggesting foul play.

Judge Agrawal said Hansa Govindbhai Rawal, who, according to the prosecution, had illicit relations with Kundan Rawal and was the cause of the murder, had not supported the argument about conspiracy.

The judge also noted the absence of direct evidence tying the accused to the crime.

Additionally, two of the key prosecution witnesses — the deceased woman's relatives Rakesh Rawal and Satishkumar Rawal — were not eyewitnesses and relied solely on hearsay, he said. PTI COR ARU