Hyderabad: The evidence against the accused is "wholly reliable" and "there is no difficulty for the court to remove chaff from the grain to find out the genesis of the incident", principal district & sessions judge, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, MV Suresh has said, while sentencing 16 persons, including two women, to rigorous imprisonment for life in a 2020 murder case. They were convicted on Wednesday.
The accused, in their defence, claimed that the deceased, a businessman, fell down in an inebriated condition and sustained fatal injuries. However, the court pointed to the post-mortem examination (PME) report, stating it did not record any alcohol in the body and that the forensic expert, who conducted the PME, had no reason to foist a false case against the accused.
The 16 accused brutally killed the 44-year-old man in Rebbena, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, in Aug 2020, after he opposed his minor daughter's relationship with the main accused, Jarpula Suresh.
During the trial, the accused claimed that the sticks, stones, and other materials alleged to have been used to attack the deceased and his family members were not seized and examined. The court found that at the time of the incident, there was heavy rain in the village, which resulted in a power outage.
As the businessman was severely injured and battling for life, it was quite natural for the family and police to shift him to hospital at the earliest instead of gathering the materials used in the attack, the court observed.
The accused claimed lapses in the investigation, but the judge ruled that merely because there were some minor lapses on the part of the investigation, it cannot be the ground to discard the entire testimony. "Thus, there is sufficient, formidable, plausible, palpable, legal, and substantive evidence to prove the role of the accused in the incident," the judge said and pronounced the accused guilty of the crime.
The court, while delivering the verdict, also observed that the deceased's family members, who were also injured in the attack in an attempt to rescue him, need to be compensated for their physical and mental trauma, apart from proper rehabilitation. It directed the District Legal Services Authority to ensure they receive the compensation at the earliest.
During the trial, the court examined 15 witnesses, 12 exhibits (documents related to the incident and investigation), and 7 material objects (objects used in the incident). Eight exhibits produced by the accused in their defence were also examined.