PANAJI
Gaonkar has also been directed to pay a fine of Rs 20,000 out of which Rs 15,000 is to be given to the victim as compensation.
As per the chargesheet filed against Gaonkar under Section 307 of IPC, he caught the victim Shakuntala Ainkar while she was walking alone through a cashew plantation and assaulted her with a stone on the right eye and face. As a result, she sustained a fracture and grievous injuries and was partially blinded. The victim also suffered from depression following the attack.
The prosecution examined 16 witnesses in support of its case.
Victim Shakuntala Ainkar deposed that the accused is her neighbor and that their relations were not cordial. His father had visited her house with the marriage proposal of the accused for her. But her father had turned it down as the accused was unemployed and was a drunkard. Relations between the two families, however, soured and Ainkar’s father lodged a police complaint against the accused as he took to abusing and fighting with them.
On the fateful day, the girl was walking from her paddy field towards her home through a cashew plantation owned by one Gokuldas. When she reached the cashew plantation, the accused came running towards her, caught her hair and began slapping her and banged her head on stones.
While she was being assaulted, she screamed for help and called out the name of Gokuldas. He stated that he heard the screams and ran towards the screams and found her lying unconscious and bleeding from her head. He then went to her home and informed her brother, Shripad.
Her brother summoned a 108 ambulance. She was taken first to PHC at Valpoi and was later moved to GMC Bambolim.
The Court noted that the accused has committed the offence without immediate provocation by the victim due to her refusal to marry him. It was also noted that the victim survived because she shouted for help. “The accused believed the victim had died when she fell unconscious and this was the reason why he did not hit her further. As a result, she survived,” the judgment reads.
