Thane: A sessions court acquitted a 24-year-old tailor who was accused of murdering his stepmother in 2020. The court held that the prosecution failed to establish the chain of circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt.The court noted serious lacunae in the prosecution case, including unreliable “last seen together” evidence, hostile witnesses, and questionable recovery procedures. According to the prosecution, the crime took place on the intervening night of May 28 and 29, 2020, near the Saket–Kalwa bridge truck parking area in Rabodi, where the victim’s body was found with her throat slit. The case rested largely on the claim that the accused was last seen with the victim and on recoveries allegedly made at his instance. Court also questioned the evidentiary value of CCTV footage, noting that mandatory certification under the Evidence Act was mechanically signed and not reliably proved.
