THE COURT OBSERVES
There exists a considerable gap between 9.30 pm, when Naik and Gaonkar were seen together, till Gaonkar’s death as per the post mortem, prior to 7.30 am the next day
The police failed to establish the last seen theory by bringing corroborative evidence on record thereby completing the chain of circumstances
The investigating officer also failed to record at least 12 injuries on the body of the accused at the time of arrest
The arrest panchnama only made a mention of one white bandage above the right eye of the accused while 12 other injuries cropped up on the medical examination report
Sawantwadi native acquitted in 2015 murder case near St Cruz church
Court trashes 'last seen' theory; Prosecution failed to connect accused with crime
THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
Additional Sessions Judge, North Goa Pramod Kamat has acquitted Vasant Naik (50), resident of St Cruz and native of Sawantwadi in a 2015 case of murder of one Manohar Gaonkar (51) near St Cruz Church
Stating that the prosecution failed to connect the accused with the commission of the crime, the Court granted benefit of doubt to Naik.
Naik, a coconut plucker, faced trial under charges of murder on the allegations that prior to 7.30 am on October 11, 2015 at St Cruz church, he murdered Manohar Gaonkar (51), who was a carpenter.
The deceased has multiple injuries on his forehead and face which had bled profusely.
Old Goa police had arrested Naik after witnesses claimed that he was arguing with Gaonkar on the previous night. Blood-stained pieces of pavers were attached as the weapon and samples of blood splatter from the church wall was collected as evidence.
However, statements of occupants of the church were not recorded.
The prosecution examined 13 witnesses in support of its case. However, there were no eye witnesses and the prosecution rested mainly on the evidence of four witnesses who supported the ‘last seen’ theory.
Defence counsel S Kambli argued that none of the witnesses spoke about the nature of the discussion or argument between the accused and the deceased. Accepting this, the Court observed that while the witnesses stated that both Naik and Gaonkar were heavily drunk and were arguing, they failed to disclose what sort of discussion the two were having and whether any threats were issued.
One witnesses also stated that he had seen the two fighting with a stick, but no stick was attached during the investigation.
The owner of a local bar stated that Naik and Gaonkar had come to his bar for a drink at around 12 noon and then again at 9.30 pm. He said that they drank cashew fenny and that after some time, there was a heated argument. As a result, he told them to go away.
Discarding the last seen theory forwarded by the prosecution, the Court observed that there exists a considerable gap between 9.30 pm, when Naik and Gaonkar were seen together, till Gaonkar’s death as per the post mortem, prior to 7.30 am the next day. The police failed to establish the last seen theory by bringing corroborative evidence on record thereby completing the chain of circumstances.
The post-mortem conducted at Gmc stated that the cause of death was due to ‘crushing injures to the face with cranio-cerebral caused as a result of blunt force.'
In addition to these lapses, the investigating officer also failed to record at least 12 injuries on the body of the accused at the time of the arrest. The arrest panchnama only made a mention of one white bandage above the right eye of the accused while 12 other injuries cropped up on the medical examination report.
As a result, the Court heeded the defence argument that the injuries were on account of assault by the Old Goa police and it was noted that the burden lies on the investigating agency to explain as to how the injuries were caused to the accused. “There is a great deal of fabrication in the investigation,” reads the judgment.
