Maharashtra man sentenced to life imprisonment for murder after robbery in 2017

A court in Maharashtrarsquos Thane district has sentenced a 31yearold man to life imprisonment for the murder of a woman following a robbery that took place eight years agoAccording to PTI Additional Sessions Judge Mangala A Mote presiding over the Kalyan court delivered the verdict on Tuesday convicting Mukesh Ganpat Nimse a resident of Kharivali village in Shahapur taluka Along with the life sentence the court imposed a fine of Rs 20000 on the accusedAs per PTI reports the judge ordered that Rs 19000 of the fine be awarded as compensation to the victimrsquos family while Rs 1000 would be credited to the state to cover prosecution costsThe prosecution led by Additional Public Prosecutor Kadambini Khandagale informed the court that the crime took place on 9 August 2017 The accused robbed Sandhya Ganesh Nimse the wife of a carpenter of her gold jewellery and subsequently murdered her on agricultural land in Kharivali villageDuring the trial the advocate representing the accused pleaded for a lesser sentence arguing that the case did not fall under the ldquorarest of rarerdquo category which is typically required for the death penaltyHowever the court rejected this plea As per PTI the judge stated that although the case does not meet the criteria for capital punishment the accused committed a grave crime driven by greed for ornaments The nature of the offence the court noted warranted strict punishmentPTI reports that the prosecution successfully proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt Over the course of the trial a total of 13 prosecution witnesses were examined to establish the guilt of the accusedAfter considering all evidence and arguments presented the court concluded that Mukesh Ganpat Nimse was guilty of murder and robbery thereby sentencing him to life imprisonmentIn a similar case a court in Maharashtras Thane districthas sentenced a 30yearold man to life imprisonment for the murder of a man in 2016 reported news agency PTIAdditional sessions judge A N Sirsikar convicted the accused Ajay Lalbahaddur Vishwakarma of the charges under section 302 murder and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment and a fiveyear rigorous imprisonment term reported PTIThe sentences will run concurrently the court orderedThe court however acquitted Sanjay Firatlal Goutam a coaccused in the case citing lack of conclusive evidence against himA copy of the order passed on Thursday was made available on SaturdayAdditional public prosecutor Rekha Hiwrale informed the court that on July 27 2016 the victim Jay Prajapati went missing after informing his father that he was atBhayandar railway station reported PTIShe said messages were sent from Prajapatis mobile phone demanding Rs 15 lakh for his release However despite efforts by his family and the police the victim could not be traced and his body was later discovered wrapped in a motorcycle cover in the mangrovesThe prosecution said the forensic investigation and digital evidence linked Vishwakarma to the crimeAt least 16 prosecution witnesses including the victims kin and medical officers were examined during the trial she saidThe court noted that key prosecution witnesses testified after a sixyear delay leading to some discrepancies reported PTIHowever judge Sirsikar observed that minor inconsistencies should not undermine the credibility of the evidenceThe court ruled that while the prosecution failed to prove the ransom demand and the involvement of the second accused it successfully established that Vishwakarma had a motive to kill Prajapati due to personal enmityHe highlighted that the discovery of the deceaseds body at the instance of the accused and theextrajudicial confessionbefore a witness played a crucial role in securing the conviction reported PTIThe judge in his order ruled that the case did not fall under the rarest of rare category warranting capital punishmentThe court acquitted the coaccused Sanjay Firatlal Goutam stating that his mere presence at railway stations captured in CCTV footage was insufficient to establish his role in the crimeWith inputs from PTI