MARGAO
The accused convicted for the murder of Colva resident Baptista D’Costa has been sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life and a fine of Rs one lakh and in default to undergo simple imprisonment of two years.
Additional Sessions Court Judge, Vincent D’Silva further sentenced the accused Aman Kavitiya (24) under Section 394 of IPC to undergo rigorous imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 25,000 and in default to undergo simple imprisonment of one year.
The accused has also been sentenced under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code to undergo rigorous imprisonment of two years and a fine of Rs 10,000 and in default to undergo simple imprisonment of 6 months. The sentences will run concurrently.
The fine amount of Rs one lakh shall be paid to the wife of the deceased.
Judge Vincent said the evidence on record clearly show that the accused committed murder of Baptista @ Batu, on January 20, 2018, at Lovers Beach, Betalbatim when they were having a party on the shore.
“The accused had preplanned the crime as he had purchased a knife about two days before the incident, primarily to cause death and commit robbery of the gold ornaments, which were on the person of the deceased and fled away from the scene of occurrence."
“There is no justification for the dastardly crime committed by the accused. Life imprisonment is a rule and death sentence is an exception. The submission that the accused is young and that he has no antecedents will not assist the accused in taking a lenient view in the matter. The accused is therefore required to be awarded the life imprisonment, so also, fine under Section 302 of IPC”, the Judge said.
The Judge added: “The evidence indicates that the accused knowing that he has committed the murder of Baptista caused the evidence of the offence to disappear by concealing the gold ornaments and other personal belongings of deceased as well as concealing the blood-stained clothes worn by him and the blood-stained knife used by him in committing the offence with the intention of avoiding punishment”.
