Thane court acquits man in murder and attempted murder case due to flaws, delays in probe

Thane, Sep 26 (PTI) A court in Thane district has acquitted a 26-year-old man in a 2023 case of fatal stabbing of a woman and attempted murder of her friend, who was the wife of the accused, citing procedural lapses and lackadaisical investigation by police.

The judgment, delivered by the court on September 22, concluded that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the accused, Nagesh Balu Rupvate, beyond a reasonable doubt in the murder of the woman, Jyoti Sonkar (19) and the assault on his wife Kiran Khandare (21), a friend of the deceased, in Diva (East) in Thane district.

A copy of the ruling by Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal was made available on Friday.

According to the prosecution, Sonkar and Khandare (Rupvate's wife) were residing together and running a beauty parlour. The alleged murder-assault incident took place on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2023 in a flat in a building in Diva (East) following a quarrel stemming from Khandare's refusal to cohabit with her husband and instead stay with Sonkar.

Rupvate, who had been in custody since his arrest more than two years ago, was charged under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

The court criticized the handling of the case by the Mumbra police despite the law enforcement being alerted about the crime by the injured victim (Khandare) herself immediately after the stabbing incident.

"In such a scenario, where was the necessity of registering an accidental death report (ADR) when the police had all the information about the offence (murder and attempted murder) as well as the accused, from the injured witness. Where was the necessity of having an inquiry in that accidental death report as has been done by the police in the present matter," it noted.

Furthermore, the FIR was lodged at 15:57 hours (on May 16), that is after more than 12 hours (after the incident) and the accused was arrested at 21:00 hours, that is after 18 hours, the court observed.

"All these aspects certainly create reasonable doubt in respect of the genesis of the whole story of the prosecution in an offence which is such a gruesome one," the judge said.

"An informant had deposed in accordance with the case of prosecution and lodged FIR. But none of the doubts regarding registration of ADR, delayed registration of FIR, and belated arrest of the accused were clarified by him," the court observed.

Regarding the key piece of evidence, the knife, the court found contradictory testimony.

"Witness Manoj Gunjal admitted in his cross-examination that the knife and a mobile phone were found in the bedroom where the spot panchanama was carried out and the police had seized it in his presence. Whereas, according to prosecution, the knife was seized after four days. Thus, even this part of evidence is not believable," the court stated.

"Considering the aforesaid lacunae in the prosecution version demonstrating utter lackadaisical investigation and the material placed on record, it cannot be said that the prosecution has proved the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt," it said while acquitting Rupvate.

The prosecution alleged that Rupvate, following his wife and friend home from work, initiated a quarrel with his wife as she was unwilling to cohabit with him. During the argument, he allegedly took out a knife and assaulted his wife Khandare on her neck, stomach, and limbs.

When Sonkar intervened to save her friend, Rupvate allegedly stabbed her multiple times, leading to her death, it said.

The post-mortem report confirmed the death was homicidal, caused by "haemorrhage and shock due to multiple stab wounds causing injuries to vital structures." However, the court noted the prosecution has failed to produce any medical records regarding the injuries suffered by Khandare. Furthermore, her testimony about seeing Rupvate assault Sonkar was established by the defence as an omission in her police statement, weakening her credibility. PTI COR RSY