Mumbai: A court here on Tuesday sentenced two former employees of Salon Tea to life imprisonment for the murder of Kriti Vyas, 28, their senior finance manager at the company, holding that the prosecution had proved the case despite reasonable doubt. done. The victim's body was never found.
While deciding the quantum of punishment, the sessions court said Vyas, a chartered accountant, was the "financial pillar" of her family and her death in March 2018 had left them grief-stricken.
The court said the prosecution proved each and every circumstance "beyond reasonable doubt" in the case against accused Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahajwani.
In the absence of a body, the prosecution's case was based on the 'last time we will see you' theory and circumstantial evidence. However, the court held that I had not merely relied on uncorroborated circumstantial evidence or the 'we will meet together for the last time' theory, but that each circumstance had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.Additional Sessions Judge MG Deshpande on Monday convicted Tamhankar N Sahajwani under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code).
The court said that all the evidence presented before it conclusively established that the accused strangulated Vyas in the car "using means known only to them" and made out a case of culpable homicide under section 302 .
It said the presence of blood stains and DNA analysis reports confirmed this conclusion.
The court said it was also proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that after murdering Vyas, both the accused, "in furtherance of their common intention", destroyed the evidence and his body, which violates the IPC section. It is a crime under section 201.
Tamhankar was an account executive and Sahajwani an `Academy Manager' at a Salo chain in suburban Andheri, and both reported to Vyas.According to the prosecution, both the accused were in an illicit relationship.
The prosecution told the court that they killed Vyas because he had issued them a memo for not working diligently and both feared that apart from losing their jobs, their case might be exposed because of his act.
Police cracked the case after DNA testing of blood found in the car of one of the accused. Police said the car was used in the crime.
Vyas, a resident of Grant Road area in South Mumbai, went missing on March 16, 2018.According to her family, she boarded the Virar-bound suburban train at 9:11 am from Grant Road station to go to her office in Andheri.
The case, initially registered at DB Marg police station, was handed over to the crime branch, which arrested the accused duo as Vyas was last seen in their company.
The court ruled that the prosecution had successfully established all the links forming a chain of circumstances, adding that there was no "straight-jacket formula" that a case based on circumstantial evidence would be weak and could never be doubted. Cannot be proved beyond.
While sentencing the accused, the judge said that he had carefully considered their age, family background and their future.
Also, the court cannot ignore the fact that a 28-year-old young charter accountant "mysteriously disappeared from the company of both the accused", the court said."It is true that her parents are old and she has an unemployed sister. They all depended on Kriti's earnings. As such, she was a financial pillar for her family and since her disappearance her family has been in crisis. There has been hardship and suffering which cannot be expressed in words,” the court said.
It said that the family background of both the accused was such that they could not give compensation to the victim's family.
The court said it was a fit case to award compensation to the victim's family, and asked the District Legal Services Authority to decide the quantum of compensation.
While deciding the quantum of punishment, the sessions court said Vyas, a chartered accountant, was the "financial pillar" of her family and her death in March 2018 had left them grief-stricken.
The court said the prosecution proved each and every circumstance "beyond reasonable doubt" in the case against accused Siddhesh Tamhankar and Khushi Sahajwani.
In the absence of a body, the prosecution's case was based on the 'last time we will see you' theory and circumstantial evidence. However, the court held that I had not merely relied on uncorroborated circumstantial evidence or the 'we will meet together for the last time' theory, but that each circumstance had been proven beyond reasonable doubt.Additional Sessions Judge MG Deshpande on Monday convicted Tamhankar N Sahajwani under sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code).
The court said that all the evidence presented before it conclusively established that the accused strangulated Vyas in the car "using means known only to them" and made out a case of culpable homicide under section 302 .
It said the presence of blood stains and DNA analysis reports confirmed this conclusion.
The court said it was also proved "beyond reasonable doubt" that after murdering Vyas, both the accused, "in furtherance of their common intention", destroyed the evidence and his body, which violates the IPC section. It is a crime under section 201.
Tamhankar was an account executive and Sahajwani an `Academy Manager' at a Salo chain in suburban Andheri, and both reported to Vyas.According to the prosecution, both the accused were in an illicit relationship.
The prosecution told the court that they killed Vyas because he had issued them a memo for not working diligently and both feared that apart from losing their jobs, their case might be exposed because of his act.
Police cracked the case after DNA testing of blood found in the car of one of the accused. Police said the car was used in the crime.
Vyas, a resident of Grant Road area in South Mumbai, went missing on March 16, 2018.According to her family, she boarded the Virar-bound suburban train at 9:11 am from Grant Road station to go to her office in Andheri.
The case, initially registered at DB Marg police station, was handed over to the crime branch, which arrested the accused duo as Vyas was last seen in their company.
The court ruled that the prosecution had successfully established all the links forming a chain of circumstances, adding that there was no "straight-jacket formula" that a case based on circumstantial evidence would be weak and could never be doubted. Cannot be proved beyond.
While sentencing the accused, the judge said that he had carefully considered their age, family background and their future.
Also, the court cannot ignore the fact that a 28-year-old young charter accountant "mysteriously disappeared from the company of both the accused", the court said."It is true that her parents are old and she has an unemployed sister. They all depended on Kriti's earnings. As such, she was a financial pillar for her family and since her disappearance her family has been in crisis. There has been hardship and suffering which cannot be expressed in words,” the court said.
It said that the family background of both the accused was such that they could not give compensation to the victim's family.
The court said it was a fit case to award compensation to the victim's family, and asked the District Legal Services Authority to decide the quantum of compensation.
