A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the gang-rape of a 30-year-old woman in 2017. The verdict was delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Vasudha L Bhosale on Friday, who found the accused guilty under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to PTI, the two convicts, identified as Suresh Pandurang Gosavi (40) and Umesh alias Rakesh Zhala (39), were also convicted on charges of kidnapping and robbery. Apart from the life sentence, the court imposed a fine of ₹55,000 on each of them.
As per PTI, the judge ruled that all the sentences awarded to the accused would run concurrently. Additionally, the court directed the convicts to pay ₹40,000 each as compensation to the victim. The case has also been referred to the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) for further compensation as per legal provisions.
PTI reports that Additional Public Prosecutors Varsha Chandane and Rajendra P Patil presented evidence in court detailing the crime. On the evening of December 19, 2017, the victim, who was employed as a store manager, was on her way home from work when she boarded Gosavi’s cab. The other accused, Zhala, was already seated in the front.
According to the prosecution, after driving some distance, the accused halted the vehicle under the pretext of fixing a flat tyre. They then robbed the victim of her jewellery and mobile phone before sexually assaulting her inside the vehicle.
The crime did not end there. The perpetrators then took the woman to a lodge, but she managed to raise an alarm, forcing the accused to abandon her and flee the scene.
Thane court acquits man accused of kidnapping, murdering 13-year-old boy
A court in Maharashtra`s Thane district has acquitted a man accused of kidnapping and murdering a 13-year-old boy in 2022, citing insufficient evidence against him, reported news agency PTI.
Principal District and Sessions Court judge S B Agrawal acquitted Dashrath Prakash Kakade (30), a resident of Mumbra, of charges, including abduction, murder, and destruction of evidence, reported PTI.
A copy of the order dated February 28 was made available on Sunday.
The prosecution had alleged that Kakade, a contractor, had kidnapped the victim, Suresh alias Rupesh Vijay Gole, on the pretext of buying clothes on April 17, 2022, and later strangled him at a public toilet near the railway tracks in Diva, Thane, reported PTI.
Initially, an FIR was registered under section 363 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code. The police later added the charges of sections 302 (murder), 364 (kidnapping with intent to murder), and 201 (destruction of evidence).
During the trial, the victim`s mother testified that Kakade took the boy away around 3 pm on the day of the incident. However, the court raised concerns about the credibility of her statement as it was recorded 11 days after the incident, reported PTI.
A crucial piece of evidence, CCTV footage allegedly showing Kakade with the victim, was also ruled inadmissible due to non-compliance with the Indian Evidence Act.
Another key argument made by the prosecution was that Kakade led the police to the location of the boy`s body. However, the court questioned the validity of this claim, highlighting that the body was discovered in a public toilet, a location accessible to many, reported PTI.
While the postmortem report confirmed that the victim died due to throttling, it did not provide any direct link to the accused, the court said.
Blood and forensic analyses also failed to establish any conclusive evidence against him, it stated.
The court also noted that the initial FIR mentioned Kakade dropping the victim off at a local fair, leaving room for other possibilities.
Given these gaps in the evidence, the court held that the prosecution had failed to establish an unbroken chain of circumstances proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
(With inputs from PTI)
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