A sessions court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has acquitted a 34-year-old man facing charges for the kidnap and murder of his eight-year-old daughter nearly three years ago, citing lack of evidence. In his order dated October 10, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal held that the prosecution had failed to back its claims against Anis Mohammad Khan Maldar.

As per the prosecution, Maldar was addicted to gambling and would often have minor disagreements with his wife. When his wife was at a hospital on December 3, 2021, she received a call from her husband shortly after midnight saying he had killed their daughter Mahira. Advocate Sagar R Kolhe, who represented Maldar, successfully argued that there were inconsistencies in the prosecution’s claims.