Mumbai: A sessions court has acquitted a 24-year-old man of charges of murdering his wife after spending five years in jail as an undertrial. Irfan Khan and his mother Raziya were booked for 17-year-old Noorjahan Khan’s death, which the two claimed was suicide. The court observed that there’s a possibility that the girl may have died by suicide.
Khan was arrested in April 2018 and was accused of harassing his teenage wife over dowry and murdering her. His mother, who was also accused along with him, who was granted bail, has also been acquitted now.
No violent external or internal injuries in post-mortem report
The court considered the deceased’s post-mortem report that clearly showed there were no violent external or internal injuries. The husband and mother-in-law were booked on the complaint of the girl’s parents, who alleged that the two beat her up over dowry demands and strangled her. They allegedly also tried to portray her death as a suicide.
The police claimed to have found hair in the fingers of the deceased and a DNA report confirmed them to belong to the man. They alleged that he was present at the spot and had therefore strangulated her and shown it as a suicide.
The accused’s advocate Wahab Khan had contended that the hair was planted by two police officers after the man was taken into custody for interrogation.
Additional Sessions Judge SC Jadhav said in the judgment that there is no evidence of cruelty at the hands of the accused and that there is “absolutely no evidence” to show that soon before her death she was ill-treated.
Police document regarding the body of the deceased was prepared after 30 hours
The court also noted that the police document regarding the body of the deceased was prepared after 30 hours. It also noted that police witnesses as well as the father of the deceased had not stated anything about seizure of hair from the fingers of the deceased.
The father was present to identify the body during the procedure. It also noted that two such documents were prepared and there is no reason assigned by the police for conducting the procedure the second time. The court said the prosecution has failed to prove charges against the accused beyond reasonable doubt and hence they are entitled to an acquittal.
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