THANE: A court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has acquitted a 50-year-old man accused of murdering his wife, citing inconsistencies in the testimonies and ruling that the prosecution had not been successful in proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Principal district and sessions judge S B Agrawal acquitted Mohammed Tariq Pirmohammed Shaikh, a resident of Daighar, of the charge of murdering his wife, Sagufta Shaikh. A copy of the order passed on January 22 was made available on Friday.
As per the case details, the victim, Sagufta Shaikh, was found dead with multiple fractures and contusions in her home on May 19, 2024. The prosecution’s case rested on the testimony of the victim’s brother and father, who alleged that the accused frequently quarrelled with the victim, and on the night of the incident, he allegedly called them and stated he had attacked her with a wooden stick, rendering her unconscious.
The police claimed that the accused walked into the Daighar police station and surrendered, admitting to the assault. The postmortem also confirmed a violent death. The judge found that the prosecution’s narrative lacked the necessary legal weight to sustain a conviction on murder charge.
The court, in its order, stated that the victim’s brother had testified that his sister used to tell him about the abusive language used by the accused and his suspicion of character, but these contentions are “very vague”. It also pointed out inconsistencies in the testimonies of the victim’s family members. The court concluded that the prosecution failed to prove the accused’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
