A Mumbai sessions court is likely to pronounce its verdict in the murder case of Jhanvi Kukreja on Saturday, nearly five years after the 19-year-old college student was killed during a New Year’s Eve gathering in suburban Mumbai in 2021.
Background of the case
Jhanvi Kukreja, a psychology student, had attended a New Year’s Eve party at Bhawati Heights on 31st December 2020. In the early hours of January 1, 2021, she was found in a pool of blood near a staircase within the premises. The post-mortem report noted 48 injuries.
Following an investigation, police arrested Shree Jogdhankar and Diya Padalkar, both of whom were present at the party. Padalkar was known to the victim, with the two having grown up living in the same neighbourhood.
According to a report by the Times of India, the prosecution has alleged that a dispute broke out during the party, allegedly linked to Jogdhankar’s relationship with Padalkar. Kukreja was assaulted and dragged from the fifth floor along the staircase.
To substantiate its case, the prosecution has relied on circumstantial evidence, including 49 witnesses, CCTV footage from the building, forensic analysis and DNA findings.
The prosecution argued that the accused Jogdhankar was seen leaving the building with blood stains on his torn shirt. Furthermore, the prosecution also alleged that Padalkar sought treatment for a lip injury that occured the fight.
The intervener of the case, Niddhi Kukreja, told the court that he daughter was murder in a brutal and barbaric manner. To confirm this, she submitted a Forensic Science Laboratory report, through the advocate, that confirmed the presence of the victim's blood on Jogdhankar and on the article used by Padalkar.
The prosecution told the court that DNA evidence clearly showed Jogdhankar’s presence at the crime scene and that Padalkar had come into contact with blood-stained items in the flat where she stayed after the incident.
The defence has contested the prosecution’s version, arguing that the case is built entirely on circumstantial evidence that fails to meet the threshold of proof required for a conviction. Jogdhankar’s lawyer submitted that the injuries he sustained were from the fight that occurred at that moment.
Jogdhankar continues to remain in judicial custody, while Padalkar was granted bail.
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