the goan I network
PANAJI
Kharia was arrested on January 24, 2014, by Pernem Police and is still in custody.
The Court admitted the validity of an extra-judicial confession of the accused thereby modifying the charge on the basis of Kharia’s conduct immediately after the incident. The Court inferred that he had no intention of killing his wife and made frantic efforts to shift her immediately to the hospital to save her life. However, as he had sufficient knowledge that the assault on the deceased with a danda on the head is likely to cause death, the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder was upheld.
Case of the prosecution was that on January 24, 2014 between 2.25 pm and 2.45 pm, in a fit of anger during a fight, Kharia assaulted his wife, Anisha Barla, on her head with a wooden danda thereby causing her death.
The danda was recovered on January 27, 2014 at the instance of the accused from the bushes behind his house.
Dr Mandar Kantak, who conducted the post mortem ruled that the death was homicidal. The frequent fights between the couple were proved to be the motive behind the offence. Moreover, the prosecution also proved that there was a heated argument between the accused and the deceased just before the incident.
The other evidence brought on record included the two white colour, blood-stained buttons belonging to Kharia which were found at the scene of offence.
In addition to this, Kharia’s medical exam report listed fingernail injuries on his face.
Two members of Kharia’s landlord’s family testified as witnesses and offered the evidence that Kharia had come home from work for lunch on ill-fated day when the fight broke out between him and his wife.
No one interfered as it was Kharia’s private matter. One of the witnesses stated that while he was having lunch, Kharia came and told him that his wife had fallen down.
The witness, Nagesh Ambre, who was the landlord’s son, called the ambulance and informed the 108 call operator that his tenant had assaulted his wife with a wooden danda and that she was badly injured. Prosecution brought the records of this call on record. Ambre also told the Court that the accused told him that he had fought with his wife because she was planning to leave the room and during the fight, he assaulted her on her head with a wooden danda.
As the other witness corroborated this version, the Court denied the defence argument that this extra-judicial confession was hearsay evidence.
“The evidence inspires confidence and is supported by a chain of cogent circumstances and does not suffer from any material discrepancies or inherent probability,” reads the judgment.
