Manjula Shetye murder case: Blow-by-blow account of jail inmate’s killing

MUMBAI: An eyewitness in the Manjula Shetye murder case deposed before the trial court on Wednesday, chronicling the brutal way the Byculla jail inmate was allegedly assaulted by jailor Manisha Pokharkar and five women guards on June 23, 2017. The witness, who is 27 years old, was at the time lodged in the jail as a murder case undertrial, and was later acquitted. She has now identified all six accused in the Shetye case in court.


Pokharkar and jail guards Bindu Naikode, Waseema Shaikh, Sheetal Shegaokar, Surekha Gudve and Aarti Shingane are on trial for Shetye’s murder. Investigators claim the crime was preplanned as the officers had received complaints against Shetye from inmates.

The 27-year-old former inmate is the second witness to depose in the trial. Special public prosecutor Vidya Kasle conducted her examination, during which she said that on the fateful day, Pokharkar and Shaikh came to their barracks to check if preparations had been done for the jail superintendent’s weekly round. She said Pokharkar warned them against making any complaints to the officer. The witness said that around 10.15am on June 23, 2017, when the officer arrived, Shetye inquired about her jail transfer plea, to which the superintendent told her that he would look into it. The witness said that Pokharkar did not like Shetye’s query and displeasure was apparent on her face.

Recalling the assault, the witness said that five minutes after picking up their morning meal from the jail grounds at 10.30am, when she and two other inmates returned to the barracks, “Aarti Madam” (Shingane) brought Shetye to the barrack by holding her by the hair and pushed her to the floor. The witness said Pokharkar, Naikode, Shaikh, Shegaokar and Gudve followed up on the assault. The witness said Shegaokar started hitting Shetye with a stick on the back, waist, hands and legs. She said Pokharkar rained blows on Shetye’s back with her knees and elbows, while the others used their hands to hit her. “All six took turns with the stick and beat her,” the witness said, adding that Shetye cried out to Naikode to save her. She said that another inmate, a foreign national, said, “enough, enough”, but the accused did not pay heed.

The witness said Pokharkar threatened inmates against providing help to Shetye. She recalled Shetye crying in pain, vomiting and even soiling her clothes. She said that at 6pm, when Pokharkar and other staff came to count the inmates, they left without enquiring about Shetye’s condition. The witness said Shetye had not eaten anything since her assault and had been lying on the same spot. After 6pm, the staff changed.

The witness said when inmates tried to bathe Shetye after Naikode’s permission, she fainted and suffered locked jaw. When the inmates screamed for help, two staffers arrived and asked them to open her jaw. One went to call a doctor. The witness said that Shetye’s jaw was opened and when she became slightly conscious, she said she had passed stool. She said Shetye didn’t say anything after that and inmates helped change her clothes, after which she was taken to the doctor. She said the inmates returned later and said Shetye had been taken to JJ Hospital, and next day they received information that Shetye had died in the night. She said the inmates believed that the assault had caused Shetye’s death.

The witness said that 10 days before the crime, she had written a jail transfer plea on Shetye’s request. She said Shetye told her of harassment by Pokharkar and so wanted a transfer. She said that fearing further harassment from Pokharkar, Shetye didn’t want the reason mentioned in the application.