30-year-old robber gets life for killing teen, attacking lover

MUMBAI: A sessions court on Friday convicted and sentenced a 30-year-old man to life imprisonment for stabbing to death a teenager and injuring his female friend while trying to rob them in Bandra in 2011. The accused, Sameer Shaikh, was found guilty by special judge MS Azmi of murdering Bandra resident Rushabh Yadav (19).

While one more accused was acquitted as the woman, a key witness in the case, failed to identify him, another accused is still absconding.

Public prosecutor Mangesh Arote examined 12 witnesses in the case. The woman wjo was injured told the court that she and Yadav were friends as they lived in the same neighbourhood and were schoolmates. She said that at the time of the incident, he was doing his BSc and they were in a relationship. She recalled that on February 26, 2011, after attending her college and classes, she met Yadav and they reached Bandra Reclamation at 9pm. She said that when they standing on a road and talking, four men passed by. Yadav immediately said that something was wrong but they chose to ignore it, she added. According to the woman, the four men returned and asked them if they were aware of a nearby shrine and chided them for indulging in “indecent acts” in front of it.

The woman submitted to the court that Yadav and she apologised but one of the accused began touching her and kept talking to her. Yadav asked the accused to stop it and instead speak to him, she said. Three of them then took him a little away while the fourth one stood near her, she said during her deposition, adding that the trio asked Yadav for his wallet, which he refused to part with.

She further told the court that one of the accused then removed a knife from his pocket and stabbed Yadav in the stomach. She said that Yadav then sat down and handed over the wallet to them. The woman said that the accused then came to her and when she refused to hand over her purse, they attacked her too and she suffered injuries on her left hand and right wrist. The accused then snatched her purse and fled, she submitted, adding that she rushed to a bleeding Yadav and sought help from passersby.

She submitted to the court that passersby helped her stop a car and they were rushed to hospital. While she was discharged on the same day, Yadav succumbed to his injuries. In the court, the woman identified Sameer as the man who attacked Yadav but could not identify the other accused.