MARGAO
The 2019 Anmod ghat murder case has ended in an acquittal after the South Goa Sessions Court ruled that the prosecution could not prove the case against the accused persons beyond reasonable doubt.
All the four accused persons have been acquitted in the case by an order passed by Additional Sessions Judge Ram Prabhudesai.
It was the case of the Collem police that on 16.1.2019 at 4:30 PM, near NH 4A at Anmod Ghat, Mollem, the four accused Laxmi Arahunasi, Suresh Pujar, Jagdish Dhodamani and Muttana Anawalad, all native of Gadag-Karnataka, conspired to murder Sanganagouda Arahunasi, the husband of accused no.1. The police alleged that they reportedly strangled him with a nylon rope, disposed of the body, and attempted to hide evidence by applying acid to his face to distort and conceal his identity. It was further alleged that accused no.1 had an illicit relationship with accused no.2 for more than six years and both were also interested in disposing of the property of the deceased.
In his order, Judge Prabhudesai said the entire body of proved circumstances, viz. illicit relations between accused nos. 1 and 2, accused nos. 2 to 4 travelling together after the crime and partial proof of subsequent conduct taken cumulatively, do not form a complete chain leading only to the hypothesis of the guilt of the accused and which excludes every reasonable hypothesis except the guilt of the accused.
“Thus, having regard to the totality of evidence adduced by the prosecution, in my opinion, the circumstances relied upon by the prosecution did not complete the chain to dispel the hypothesis of innocence of the accused persons. Since the prosecution has failed to establish, through clinching, clear, cogent, and consistent evidence, the chain of events on the basis of which the guilt of the accused could be established, I answer the point in the negative”, the Judge observed.
