HC upholds life sentence of 2 for two murders

Panaji: The Bombay High Court in Goa has rejected the appeals of two murder convicts, Osban Lucas Fernandes and Ramesh Bhagwe, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Fernandes laborer Shivaji and his wife in 2020.

After killing the laborer in May 2013 and burying his body at Fernandes’ property in Old Goa, the accused strangled his wife and dumped her in the valley of Anmod Ghat.

Then the accused tried to strangulate their 7.6 year old minor son and 5.4 year old daughter and threw them out of the car into the ghat.

The children miraculously survived and climbed onto the roadside. A passerby saw the children naked, shocked and injured and took them to the nearest police station after the girl narrated her ordeal.

The HC said there was “sufficient evidence to convict” both the accused. It said the minor daughter testified “clearly and clearly” and her evidence “inspires confidence”. There was also other credible evidence that fully corroborates his eyewitness account.

The court said that the sessions court had also said that the testimony of the minor daughter is corroborated by other credible evidence.
The HC said Fernandes gave no explanation about the recovery of Shivaji’s mortal remains buried about 2.5 meters below ground at his property. An earth mover, a black car, and identification of the accused along with medical evidence corroborated the prosecution’s version.

A division bench of Justice Mahesh Sonak and Justice Valmiki S A Menezes said the accused cannot be held guilty of a less serious offense like causing grievous hurt or culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The court said that the evidence on record shows that Shivaji was tied with a rope, rendering him helpless, after which both the accused beat him with sticks all over his body including vital places like head, face, chest and ribs. Attacked with.

The HC said fractures of the ribs and a doctor’s testimony established that the injuries caused death. “It is clear that the accused brutally beat Shivaji to death; This cannot be said to be a case where a single stray or accidental blow occurred; The force employed was also sufficient to cause multiple fractures,” the HC said.