‘Suspicion Cannot Substitute Proof’: Bombay HC Acquits Man Sentenced To Death In 2016 Vile Parle Murder

Mumbai, September 10, 2026: Observing that “suspicion in no case can substitute proof”, the Bombay High Court has acquitted Debashish Dhara, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 24-year-old physiotherapist in Vile Parle in December 2016.

The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish a complete chain of evidence linking Dhara to the crime and set aside his conviction and death sentence.

A bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande said several weak or doubtful circumstances could not be accumulated to create certainty of guilt. “The criminal justice system must not sacrifice the innocent merely based on suspicion or probability of guilt,” the bench observed.

Dhara was acquitted on Monday, September 7, while the detailed 76-page judgment was made available on Thursday.

Death Sentence Confirmation Plea

The bench was hearing a plea filed by the State seeking confirmation of Dhara’s death sentence. Under the law, a death sentence awarded by a trial court cannot be executed unless confirmed by the high court.

The case relates to December 6, 2016, when the physiotherapist was found dead inside her mezzanine-floor bedroom at her Vile Parle East residence. The incident came to light after neighbours noticed smoke coming from the room. Her father reached the spot and found the door bolted from outside. The prosecution alleged that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled before the room was set on fire to destroy evidence.

Dhara, a goldsmith from West Bengal, was arrested nearly two months later. In October 2019, a Dindoshi Sessions Court convicted him of murder, rape, unnatural sexual offences and house trespass and sentenced him to death, terming the case one of the “rarest of rare” cases and describing the crime as an act of exceptional depravity that shocked the collective conscience.

Court Finds Investigation Shortcomings

The high court, however, found several shortcomings in the investigation and prosecution case. It noted that police had initially suspected several persons and collected their samples for analysis, but Dhara was not questioned despite remaining at his workplace near the crime scene until December 10.

“Thus, it is clear that the prosecution was grappling in the dark and it suspected several people, collected their samples sent for analysis,” the bench said. His continued presence at the workplace without being questioned suggested that he was not initially treated as a suspect.

The bench also questioned the reliance on CCTV footage. While the footage showed Dhara in the area along with other persons, those individuals were never questioned. Another clip showed a person peeping through a window, but it did not establish whose house it was or indicate any criminal intent.

Proof Must Outweigh Suspicion

The court held that the prosecution had relied on “weak, disconnected and/or unequivocal circumstances” that failed to rule out Dhara’s innocence. It stressed that where evidence leaves a reasonable possibility consistent with innocence, a conviction cannot follow.

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Quoting Benjamin Franklin’s principle that “it is better 100 guilty escape than one innocent should suffer”, the bench said the criminal justice system must prioritise proof over suspicion.

“In the halls of Justice, the quest for truth must outshine the desire for victory,” the bench concluded, directing Dhara’s immediate release from Yerawada Jail.

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