Twenty-three years on, a niece and her uncle have been exonerated from murder charges by the Bombay High Court observing that the prosecution had “Not Proved” the case beyond reasonable doubt.
A division bench of justices Sadhana Jadhav and Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday acquitted Sheetal Berlekar (then 19-years) and her uncle Babasaheb Daingade (then 31- years) of Kolhapur who were accused of killing one Sachin observing: “… the present case falls under the category of “NOT PROVED”. Hence, in view of the above discussions, the accused are entitled to benefit of doubt.”
The HC was hearing an appeal filed by the duo challenging the order of the sessions court on May 12, 2000, sentencing them to life imprisonment.
According to prosecution, Berlekar and Daingade murdered Sachin, whose father used to run an STD booth, opposite their house, for turning down Berleker’s sister’s, Megha, proposal for marriage.
On August 9, 1999, Berlekar and Daingade, went to the STD booth around 6.30 pm when Sachin was handling it. Berlekar then allegedly stabbed Sachin in chest and head causing his death on the spot.
The prosecution examined Sachin’s father, who saw the incident from a distance. He deposed before the trial court that he had overheard Megha propose Sachin, which the latter down. Megha then threatened Sachin with dire consequences, alleged the father.
However, defence counsel Niranjan Mundargi, contended that Berlekar and Daingade were falsely being implicated.
He pointed out Berlekar’s mother’s statement before the trial court where she had said that Sachin as stalking Megha and as a result she had refused to go to college. On the date of the incident, the mother had gone to meet Sachin’s parents to talk to them about the stalking. At the time, Sachin walked in the house, which is near the STD booth, with a stab wound to his chest and collapsed, said the mother, adding that he was taken to hospital.
The court noted that this contradicts Sachin’s father’s statement where he claimed to have seen Berlekar and Daingade stab Sachin from a distant.
Relying on the mother’s testimony, the HC noted: “It is settled principle that the evidence of the defence witnesses need to be weighed in the same scale as that of the prosecution witnesses and the same cannot be brushed aside only because the said witnesses are interested witnesses.”
