Mumbai: In the alleged arsenic and thallium poisoning deaths of businessman Kamalkant Shah and his mother Sarladevi in August-September 2022, the court has framed murder and conspiracy charges in the case, paving way for the trial to commence.
About The Case
The deceased’s wife Kavita Shah and her alleged partner Hitesh Jain pleaded ‘not guilty’ on Monday. The two are accused of lacing the food of the deceased with poisonous metals, causing slow, painful death. While framing the charges, the court said that it heard arguments from the prosecution and defence, and is “of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that Shah and Jain have committed an offence punishable under Section 302 (murder), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, which are exclusively triable by the sessions court”.
The court read over the charges to the two accused and also explained them. As per the case, Kavita was in a relationship with Jain, who too is an accused in the crime. Kamalkant became seriously ill and died on September 19, 2022, while his mother, Sarla, passed away earlier on August 13 the same year.
The postmortem revealed metal poisoning as the cause of the deaths. Subsequently, the complaint was filed by Kamalakant’s sister, and the ensuing investigation revealed the modus operandi. The prosecution argued that both victims exhibited poisoning symptoms and that the medical reports detected arsenic and thallium in their bodies. This counts as established evidence to hold Kavita and Jain responsible for the crime, the prosecution argued.
It further argued that Kavita was the only one insisting on not carrying out the blood tests. Earlier, the prosecution had said that Jain was Kamalkant’s friend as the duo was in the garment business and stayed in Vile Parle. Jain and Kavita were in a relationship for over a decade during which there were frequent fights between the latter and her husband. The prosecution claimed that Kavita and Jain both wanted to get married and also usurp Kamalkant’s property, hence they conspired to kill him.
