Document produced by her elder brother also reveals alleged murderer's identity to be fake
Bennett Rebello's 'adopted daughter' at Killa Court on Sunday. Pic/Bipin Kokate
In a major development on Sunday, the Unit V of Mumbai Crime branch informed the holiday court that Bennett Rebello's 'adopted daughter', accused of his murder, is not 19, but 17. The police came to know the crucial fact when her elder brother submitted her birth certificate on Saturday night.
The Crime Branch verified the details and submitted an application in court. The girl also seems to have lied about her identity. "As per the birth certificate she was born on 21/07/2002. According to which, her current age is 17 years, 04 months, 23 days, we have sent her to the children's remand home as per the law (sic)."
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On December 14, during her questioning, the 17-year-old said that her elder brother resides in Navi Mumbai. The constable who went to the given address showed the man her picture. He identified her as his youngest sister and produced her birth certificate. "Her brother was not aware she had been arrested in a murder case," an officer said.
According to the Crime Branch, the 17-year-old's identity as per her birth certificate is different from what she has said so far. "Based on the documents, we have followed the due process of law and sent her to the children's remand home," said Jagdish Sail, Senior Police Inspector of Unit V.
On the other hand, a friend of the other minor co-accused, who recorded his statement with the Crime Branch, said, "He (the accused boyfriend) met us three months ago in Asalfa and told us about Rebello. He wanted us to kill him for troubling his girlfriend. We didn't support the idea. He never broached the subject after that. We came to know about the murder only later when he was arrested. We were a group of four on the day the discussion of killing Rebello happened."
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