Mumbai guard acquitted of 2016 murder, residents rally to his defence

His lawyers Wahab Khan and Gaurav Bhawnani, however, said that he was detained illegally for 10 days and the evidence, including the pyjama and the pillow with blood stains, was planted to implicate the accused.

Also, while the police claimed that the man had been absconding since the crime before he was eventually arrested on March 3, over a month after the date of the crime, three members of the housing society deposed in court to say that the accused was illegally placed in police custody between February 11 and February 21. They told the court that after members complained that with the accused in detention, there was nobody to coordinate the water supply to the society, the 21-year-old was allowed to visit the society twice a day to carry out the task. They also said they had seen him at the police station during his detention.

Some of the society members made inquiries about appointing a legal aid lawyer for the accused and got in touch with the counsel appointed for him through an NGO.

“From the said evidence there is reason to believe that from the day of incidence, the accused was within the reach of police, he was taken to the police station etc… It is also pertinent to note that according to the defence, during the above period, the police obtained semen of the accused by compelling him to masturbate and said semen was subsequently planted on pyjama and the bolster. Having regards to the facts and circumstances of the case, the defence of the accused appears to be probable,” the court said in its order, adding that the medical evidence presented in court offered no proof of rape.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the then chairman of the society said, “There was nothing that pointed to his involvement and we did not want an innocent person to suffer. But the victim was a resident of our building and we wanted to ensure justice for her as well. So we passed a resolution that we all must cooperate with the police so that the truth comes out.”

The person said, “From the CCTV footage we could see that the accused was present in different wings of the building at the time of the incident. He was present when a sniffer dog was brought to the building and there was nothing to indicate his involvement.”

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He said the 21-year-old had been working at the building for two years before the incident, and his father worked with them since 2008. “We were clear that if there is proof of his involvement, we would have pressed for severe punishment for him. Now that the court has cleared him of all charges, we are even ready to welcome him back if he is willing,” said a society member.