23-year-old Preeti Rathi died after sulphuric acid was hurled at her at Bandra Terminus in 2013
The sessions court, presided over by judge AS Shende, on Tuesday convicted Ankur Panwar for hurling acid on a 23-year-old girl, who later succumbed to the wounds. The court held the accused guilty of section 320 (murder charges) and section 326 (for attempting to throw acid) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The quantum of sentence will be argued on Wednesday when the court would decide on sentencing.
The court's decision was based on the eyewitnesses and the circumstantial evidence which helped the prosecution reach its logical end and seek conviction in the case.
The prosecution examined 37 witnesses in the case, of which five were eyewitnesses. While speaking to dna, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said, "A young girl, aged 23, had come to the city to fulfill her dreams, and just because the girl rejected the boy's proposal to marry him, in a fit of rage, he hurled sulphuric acid on the girl's face. Panwar deserves some stringent punishment, which the prosecution will definitely seek for, so that it makes a mark in the society, so that people with similar criminal mindset realise the consequence of the dastardly act."
The defence, however, kept on saying that the victim died of medical negligence and that they would definitely approach the Bombay High Court and file an appeal against the sessions court's order.
Meanwhile, after the court pronounced the judgment and informed the accused of his conviction, Panwar claimed, "Only if CBI had investigated the case." However, he was refrained from speaking by his legal aide, advocate Apeksha Vora.
A Delhi resident Preeti Rathi was attacked on May 2, 2013 at Bandra Terminus. She had come to Mumbai to join INHS Asvini Hospital in Colaba as a lieutenant nurse. She was first taken to Gurunanak Hospital in Bandra and later shifted to Masina Hospital in Byculla. She sustained 12-15 per cent burns on her face, neck, arms and sustained deep internal injuries in the throat region as she swallowed some acid.
Rathi died on June 1, 2013.
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