The father of 20-year-old Prachi Zade, a Shaadi.com employee who was brutally stabbed to death by her one-sided lover Akash Kumar Pawar in 2018, had approached the Thane police to complain about the harassment faced by his daughter, two month’s prior to the incident. However, the police had allegedly refused to take action against the accused, citing political interference. In his statement recorded before the Sessions Court, Prachi's father claimed that the police merely registered a non-cognizable (NC) complaint, despite the accused persistently harassing and pressuring her to enter into a relationship.
Last week, the Thane Sessions Court convicted 31-year-old Akash Kumar Pawar and sentenced him to life imprisonment on charges of murder, wrongful restraint, and possession of a weapon. The court noted that the evidence presented, including the accused's identification parade, extra-judicial confessions by his friends, and testimonies from 19 witnesses, conclusively established his guilt.
Vikas Zade, Prachi's father, in his statement recorded before the court, stated that his daughter, apart from working at Shaadi.com, was pursuing a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Bedekar College.
"The accused was her college friend and had a one-sided love for her. Akash harassed her continuously, frequently calling her and visiting her office and college. When we took the matter to the local police, they refused to register an FIR and only filed an NC due to political interference. I also reported this to senior police officials," his statement in the court's judgment copy reads.
The judgment highlighted testimony from eyewitnesses who were on their way to work when the incident occurred. They described seeing the accused stabbing Prachi so brutally that the knife's blade got stuck in her body while the handle broke off, which the accused discarded.
The prosecution also relied on extra-judicial confessions by Akash's friends. The judgment noted, "An important aspect is that both witnesses were friends of the accused. If the accused had been assaulted by someone, they would have accompanied him to the hospital or police station. However, they were frightened and left him after he confided to Sachin Jadhav that he had killed the victim. This confession corroborates the eyewitness accounts," the court observed.
