Thane court acquits man who attacked mother, cites mental health condition

A court in Maharashtras Thane district has acquitted a man who attacked his mother with a knife The court while passing the acquittal orders noted that the accused has mental health issues and directed his treatmentIn the acquittal order on Thursday Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal also pulled up the police for arresting the cognitively challenged manAccording to the report presented in the court ldquoMohammad Rafiq Shahabuddin Shaikh 55 attacked his mother Jahinabi Shahabuddin Shaikh 80 with a knife at their home in Thane district in October 2019 The accused then locked his parents and allegedly disposed of the weapon and his bloodstained clothesrdquo as cited by news agency PTIThe report further added that ldquoThe police arrested Shaikh for attempted murder wrongful confinement and destruction of evidencerdquoThe judge listening to the matter while passing the orders said that it is clear that the accused was not of lsquosound mental conditionrsquoHe further highlighted that Shaikh also has a history of mental health issues since he was in Class 12Judge Agrawal further emphasised ldquoShaikhs conviction in a murder case was set aside by the Bombay High Court under Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code and slammed the police for failing to act on the obvious defencerdquo as cited by news agency PTIldquoAs per Section 84 of the IPC an act is not an offence if it is committed by a person with an unsound mindThe court also ordered Shaikhs postacquittal examination at Thane mental hospital and subsequent treatmentrdquo the order statedCourt acquits man accused of assaulting woman traffic constableIn a different scenario earlier on November 12 a Thane court also acquitted a man accused of assaulting a woman traffic constable on a road in 2023 The court while passing the order cited inconsistencies in the prosecutions case and insufficient evidence reported news agency PTIThe prosecution failed to prove the guilt of the accused Aniket Bhagwan Jadhav 24 beyond a reasonable doubt Principal District and Sessions Judge S B Agrawal said in the judgement on TuesdayThe case stemmed from an incident on June 21 2023 where Jadhav allegedly hit traffic constable Sangeeta Suryakant Kamble Dhutade at Kapurbavdi Circle in Maharashtras Thane city and also verbally abused her after she photographed his motorcycle for a helmet violationWith inputs from PTI