PANAJI
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has set aside and quashed the conviction of an Odisha native who was found guilty of killing a man from Kolkata in Mapusa in 2020.
The North Goa Additional Sessions Court’s order dated August 16, 2023 had convicted and sentenced 45-year-old Pitambar Malik to jail for the murder of 30-year-old Rahul Bengali.
In its order, the High Court Bench -- hearing a plea challenging the trial court's order -- noted that the presence of A+ blood on Malik’s clothes could not be treated as incriminating evidence. It pointed out that Malik was arrested at around 2.30 pm, but his clothes were seized only at 5.30 pm, with no explanation of where he was kept during that time. The court also described the seizure of his clothes as a “doubtful circumstance” and acquitted the man.
The case was registered in October 2020, when Mapusa police received a call about a fight near a studio in the town. The team, on arriving at the scene, found a man lying dead and a woman injured.
Police identified the victim as Rahul Bengali, a native of Kolkata and based on information provided by the woman, Malik was arrested from near the Bodgeshwar Temple within an hour.
The prosecution had stated that the three were daily wage workers who lived in Mapusa and often sat near the studio. The charge sheet had mentioned that a quarrel between Malik and Bengali earlier in the day had escalated into a heated argument, during which Malik allegedly assaulted Bengali with a wooden stick, resulting in fatal head injuries.
