Thane court acquits three men in 1994 murder of woman, her four kids

The sessions court in Maharashtras Thane has acquitted three men who were accused of killing a woman and her four minor children over 30 years ago reported news agency PTIIn his order of October 17 a copy of which was made available on Wednesday Additional Sessions Judge V G Mohite said the prosecution had failed to establish the chain of circumstantial evidence linking the accused to the crime reported PTIAccording to Thane court papers Rajnarayan Shivcharan Prajapatis wife and their four children were found murdered inside their locked house at Marwad Chawl in Penkarpada of Kashimira area on November 16 1994Based on Prajapatis complaint a case was registered against 48yearold Sahablal Amarnath Chauhan Vijay Ramavaidh 53 and Sanjay Ramavaidh 51 The complainant said the accused were their neighbours reported PTIIt was alleged that the elder brother of one of the accused had molested the complainants wife resulting in a dispute Though it was settled the accused held a grudge against his family Prajapati told the police reported PTIWhile the police filed a chargesheet in 1997 the case gained momentum with the arrest of the accused between 2022 and 2023 Advocates Deepak Thakur and Sagar Kolhe represented the defendantsThe prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence as there were no witnesses to the crimeThe Thane court said the prosecution has not proved that the accused were neighbours of the complainant at the time of the incident While the motive of the commission of the offence is not established no weapon or incriminating article was seized the judge saidThe conduct of the complainant before the court while recording his evidence is very casual and unnatural the court said acquitting all three accused reported PTIThe accused persons who have been in jail since their arrest in 2022 and 2023 were ordered to be released forthwith if not required in any other caseCourt acquits two accused in 2023 murder case cites gaps in circumstantial evidenceIn another casse a Thane court has acquitted two men accused of the murder of a person in 2023 noting the prosecution failed to prove the complete chain of circumstantial evidence required to establish the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt reported PTIThe court acknowledged that the victim had suffered a homicidal death a fact proven by the postmortem notes and the testimony of a prosecution witness and the deceaseds daughterHowever Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal noted significant flaws in the other links of the circumstantial chain leading to the acquittal reported PTIA copy of the order dated October 17 was made available on October 20With inputs from PTI