Youth had been electrocuted while fishing with live wire
PANAJI
A death due to electrical shock initially registered as an unnatural death, has resulted in the acquittal of three accused nearly seven years after the police reopened it as a case of culpable homicide.
The incident occurred during the rainy season in June 2015 when a youth, Bharat Sawant went on a leisure fishing trip with his two friends, Sachin Sawant and Rajendra Suralkar in a river at Valpoi. Bharat died from electrocution. However, there was an attempt at a cover-up when the deceased’s brother, Ganesh Sawant, claimed that Bharat died of electrocution at home.
In April 2016, a witness raised suspicions that Bharat had died while fishing with Sachin and Rajendra after which a complaint was filed by the deceased’s family. The case was reopened and the two friends were charged under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) read with section 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, while Ganesh was also charged with the same offense as he lied to his family and the police about the incident.
The charge sheet filed by the Valpoi police stated that the accused and the deceased while fishing together used a live electric wire to catch fish, fully aware that such an act could cause serious injury or death. This led to Bharat’s electrocution and subsequent death. The charge sheet mentioned that the evidence presented was sufficient to establish the offenses against the accused.
However, despite the initial charges, lack of substantial evidence ultimately led to the acquittal of the trio.
The Court, upon going through the evidence and deposition, noted that it cannot be concluded that Sachin and Rajendra had knowingly, intentionally or negligently caused the death of Bharat Sawant.
“Considering this fact with the fact that the prosecution has failed to prove that the deceased expired while he had gone fishing with Sachin and Rajendra and had used live electricity wire in the water, it cannot be concluded that Ganesh gave false evidence that the deceased had died of electrocution while ironing clothes at home,” the order stated while acquitting them of the charges.
