The Mumbai Sessions Court has convicted Shree Jogdhankar in the Khar New Year Eve murder case of 19-year-old Jhanvi Kukreja, sentencing him to life imprisonment. Co-accused Diya Padalkar was acquitted, and the victim’s family plans to challenge her acquittal
The court awarded life imprisonment to Shree Jogdhankar, holding him guilty of murder. FILE PIC
The 55th Sessions Court in Mumbai on Friday delivered its judgment in the high-profile Khar murder case of 19-year-old Jhanvi Kukreja, who was found dead on New Year’s Eve 2020.
The court sentenced Shree Jogdhankar to life imprisonment, holding him guilty of murder. However, co-accused Diya Padalkar was acquitted, with the court giving her the benefit of doubt.
Speaking outside the court, Kukreja's mother Nidhi said, “I have faith in the judiciary. I have attended the court for the past six years and I will challenge the acquittal. The court has obliged us by acknowledging the presence of Diya Padalkar at the crime spot at the time of the crime.”
Advocate Trivankumar Karnani, counsel for the victim’s family, added that the judgment recorded Padalkar’s presence at the crime scene alongside Jogdhankar, as well as an unexplained injury on her lips and false submissions made to the hospital.
Jhanvi Kukreja murder: Family to challenge Diya Padalkar's acquital
“We will obtain the certified copy of the judgment, analyse the reasoning for her acquittal, and accordingly challenge it,” said Karnani.
Kukreja was found dead on the stairs of a residential building in Khar, where she had attended a New Year’s Eve party. She had been accompanied by Jogdhankar and Padalkar, both of whom were her friends. Police investigations suggested that an argument led to a violent scuffle on the staircase, resulting in her death.
Forensic evidence reportedly showed blood stains belonging to Jhanvi on Jogdhankar’s shirt.
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