Mumbai: A sessions court recently convicted and sentenced a 43-year-old watchman to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife with a floor tile at their home in Chembur following an argument seven years ago. The conviction came even as the couple’s minor son, a witness to the incident, turned hostile and claimed that his mother had died after falling on the tiles at home.
“In my view, as the witness is the son of the accused, due to pressure from the accused, he has not stated any incriminating circumstance against the accused,” said judge AS Salgar.
However, relying on other evidence, including the fact that the victim, Babita Shetty, was last seen with the accused, Suraj Shetty, the judge said, “The evidence on record shows that the accused was present at the spot of the incident and he committed the crime. His plea of alibi is not established beyond doubt. As the accused failed to explain how the death of the deceased Babita occurred, adverse inference is required to be drawn against him,” the judge said, adding, “It is to be concluded that the circumstantial evidence against the accused is fully established and the chain is fully complete.”
It was the prosecution’s case that the murder took place after the couple had a fight and the child, who witnessed it, ran to his grandmother who lived a short distance away and informed her.
The judge also refuted the defence claims that the victim had accidentally fallen and died.
“It is not acceptable. The spot panchanama is not showing that due to the fall the deceased sustained injuries. Multiple injuries are not possible if a person falls on tiles. Therefore, the defence of the accused that the deceased fell on the tiles and sustained injuries is not believable,” the judge said.
The accused and the victim had eloped in 2005 and married. They had three children. The victim sold fish for a living.
The victim’s mother, among the 12 witnesses examined by public prosecutor Sachin Patil, told the court that on Oct 14, 2017, at 10.45 pm, her grandson rushed to her house and told her that his father had killed his mother and blood was oozing from her head.
Thereafter, she called out to her neighbour who accompanied her and the two immediately rushed to the victim’s house. When they were proceeding towards the house, they saw the accused crossing the road. When they reached the victim’s house, they saw that the door was locked and the light was switched on. They peeped inside from the window plank and saw the victim lying on the kitchen floor, bleeding profusely.
The police were summoned. The victim was rushed to the hospital, but she suffered severe head injuries leading to her death. Subsequently, the accused was arrested.