According to the prosecution, he allegedly killed the woman in a forested area near the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway on January 15, 2019 by hitting her with a stone
The court observed that the woman’s husband and daughter both stated they were unaware of any relationship between her and the accused. Representational Pic/File
A court in Thane district of Maharashtra has acquitted a 33-year-old man accused of murdering a woman in 2019, observing that there was “hardly any evidence” connecting him to the crime, reported the PTI.
Principal District and Sessions Judge S. B. Agrawal, in a judgment delivered on Monday, acquitted Abrar Mohmmed Aslam Shaikh of charges under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, as per the PTI.
According to the prosecution, Shaikh allegedly killed the woman in a forested area near the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway on January 15, 2019 by hitting her with a stone. They claimed she had pressured him to marry her and threatened to reveal their supposed extramarital affair to his family. Her body was later found partially burnt in Ghodbunder village.
Shaikh’s lawyer, Sagar Kolhe, challenged the prosecution’s version and highlighted several inconsistencies in their case.
Judge Agrawal noted that in cases relying on circumstantial evidence, the prosecution must present a complete and unbroken chain of facts that point only to the guilt of the accused. In this case, the court found that such a chain was missing, according to the PTI.
The court observed that the woman’s husband and daughter both stated they were unaware of any relationship between her and the accused.
“Thus, there is absolutely no evidence to make out that there was any relation between the accused and the victim,” the judge said, the news agency reported.
The court also rejected the ‘last seen together’ theory, raising doubts about the credibility of a key autorickshaw driver who claimed to have dropped the pair on the night of the incident. The judge described him as a “brought-up witness” who had served as a regular panch for the police.
Another alleged link -- the recovery of a stone said to be the murder weapon -- was dismissed as unreliable. The stone had no blood stains, the recovery was made from an open area, and the accused’s clothing also showed no forensic signs of blood, the court noted.
Additionally, the prosecution failed to prove that a human bite mark found on the accused was connected to the case.
Concluding that there was “hardly any evidence” to suggest Shaikh was responsible for the crime, the court acquitted him of all charges, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
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