Bombay High Court Suspends Life Sentence, Grants Bail To Man Convicted For Beheading Girlfriend's Cousin

The Bombay High Court recently suspended a life sentence and granted bail to a man convicted of murdering the cousin of his girlfriend by beheading him.A division bench of Justice AS Gadkari and Justice Shyam C Chandak prima facie rejected the prosecution's case to the extent that the murder weapon had human blood despite being found in a place filled with water.“It is important to note here that, though the weapon used in the present crime was recovered from a ditch/pond in presence of P.W.2, from a place filled with water upto knee level, the Chemical Analyser Report mentions that, human blood was found on the said weapon. Prima facie we are unable to accept the case of the prosecution to that extent.”On June 19, 2018, a resident of Kondhawa, Pune found a headless body of a man with only underwear on the body. The body was later identified to be of one Umesh Ingale, who had been reported missing via DNA evidence.The prosecution alleged that Hashmi was involved in an affair with the cousin sister of the deceased, Umesh Ingale. Umesh, who frequented the Balaji Fitness Club in Bibawewadi, Pune, went missing on June 16, 2018, after leaving home to attend the gym. Witnesses reported seeing Umesh in the company of Hashmi on the same day. CCTV footage captured the two together around 7:50 pm, near where Umesh's decapitated body was discovered three days later.During the police investigation, at Hashmi's instance, authorities recovered the murder weapon, a 'Sattur,' along with the PAN card and mobile phone of the deceased from a ditch near a canal. The trial court on September 30, 2023, convicted Hashmi under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the IPC and sentenced him to life imprisonment.He appealed against the conviction and filed an interim application seeking suspension of sentence and release on bail.Advocate Sana Raees Khan for Hashmi submitted that despite the recovery of the weapon 'Sattur' from a pond filled with water up to knee level four days after the crime, the weapon bore blood stains. Additionally, the chemical analysis report revealed that the blood on the weapon did not match that of the deceased, she said.The court noted discrepancies in the prosecution case, including the recovery of the murder weapon from a water-filled ditch, yet the Chemical Analyser Report indicated the presence of human blood on the weapon. Further, there was a substantial gap between the last sighting of Hashmi with the deceased and the discovery of Umesh's body.Hashmi has been in custody since his arrest on June 21, 2018, amounting to over five years and six months of incarceration. Considering these factors, the court decided to grant bail to Hashmi during the pendency of his appeal.The court ordered Hashmi's release on bail upon furnishing a PR bond of Rs.50,000/- and providing one or two solvent local sureties of the same amount. Additionally, Hashmi must report to the Kondhawa Police Station, Pune, on the first Monday of each month initially for a year, and then every third month thereafter. The court granted the prosecution the liberty to file for the cancellation of bail in case of two consecutive defaults on bail conditions.Advocate Sana Raees Khan and Aniket Pardeshi represented Hashmi Additional Public Prosecutor SV Gavand represented the State.Case no. – Interim Application No. 4078 of 2023Case Title – Nijam Asgar Hashmi v. State of MaharashtraClick Here To Read/Download Order

Bombay High Court Suspends Life Sentence, Grants Bail To Man Convicted For Beheading Girlfriend's Cousin

Amisha Shrivastava

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