THANE: A Thane court acquitted a driver in a case of alleged killing of a dubbing artist from the film industry in 2013, while giving him benefit of doubt.
District Jugde P P Jadhav, in his order last week, observed that the prosecution failed to prove the charges under IPC section 302 (murder) against Sonu Singh (33).
The prosecution told the court that the deceased, Seema Maison, her husband and their son lived in an apartment in Mira Road area of the district.
Singh worked as a driver in a company where Maison's husband worked.
On January 2, 2013 the dubbing artist did not go to work as she was unwell and informed her husband about it.
Her husband, the complainant in the case, asked the driver to visit the former's house and enquire about the artist, as he was unable to reach her on mobile phone.
The driver later called him up, saying there was no response when he rang the door bell and that the house was locked from inside.
The complainant then rushed home and found his wife lying dead inside the house, the prosecution said.
As per the prosecution, in December 2012, the woman and the accused were seen being close to each other at a party to which her husband had objected.
After the woman was found dead, the husband filed a complaint with the police alleging that the driver had entered the house in his absence and killed his wife, said the prosecution.
However, the defence counsel argued before the court that the prosecution had not proved the cause of the woman's death.
After hearing both the sides, Judge Jadhav said even if it is was presumed that some calls were exchanged between the woman and the driver, there was no communication between their phone numbers after December 31, 2012, as per the call data records (CDRs).
According to the prosecution, the killing took place in the afternoon of January 2, 2013.
Thus, from the evidence and the CDRs, no connection has been established between the accused and the deceased, he said.
The investigating officer (IO), during cross-examination, gave some admissions in favour of the defence, the judge observed.
The IO admitted that till January 5, 2013 the woman's husband had not raised suspicion against anyone, he said.
During the probe, the IO also could not collect the mobile handset of the deceased, he said.
The judge also noted that the woman and her husband had separate keys of the flat inwhich they lived.
But during the probe, the key in possession of the woman was not found.
Also, there was no witness to verify that the accused was with the woman in her house on the day of the incident, the judge said.
Thus, it is clear that the accused has been implicated merely on the basis of the complainant's suspicion, he said.
Hence, the prosecution has miserably failed to prove the chain of circumstances implicating the accused in the case, the judge said in his order dated May 5 while acquitting the driver.