One brother acquitted, other convicted of fratricide

PANAJI: The high court acquitted one brother and upheld the conviction of another for the murder of their sibling over a dispute regarding maintenance of their parents. The court found evidence that while the elder brother Hiru was stabbing his sibling inside the latter’s house, their younger brother Taru had actually been standing in the verandah and was not involved in the assault.
According to the prosecution, appellant Taru and the other accused, Hiru, went to the house of their brother, Thawru Chawan, on November 18, 2011, to demand money for the maintenance of their parents. When Thawru refused, Taru and Hiru assaulted him with a sandal and a knife, murdering him. The prosecution relied on the statement of Thawru’s wife, Sushila. The sessions court had accepted the evidence and sentenced both brothers to life in prison.
The appellant’s lawyer, Arun Bras de Sa, argued that the sessions court was not justified in imposing the sentence.
Sushila, during her examination before the sessions court, had stated that Taru caught hold of her husband from behind and Hiru took a knife and stabbed him in the neck, chest and three other places. Thawru had then collapsed.
But the high court said that Sushila had initially told the sessions court that Hiru entered the house and spoke to her husband for around 10 minutes while Taru was in the verandah. She said that when there was a heated discussion between Hiru and Thawru, she and Taru were in the verandah. When the stabbing took place, she was near her husband, and the other brother Taru was still in the verandah, she said.
While setting aside Taru’s life imprisonment, a division bench comprising justice Mahesh Sonak and Nutan D Sardessai said, “She has stated that when Hiru stabbed her husband, the appellant was in the varandah and did not do anything. She has also stated that only after she shouted out for help, consequent to the stabbing of her husband, did the present appellant come inside to stop the fight.”