This is an archive article published on September 21, 2022
Agnelo Valdaris ‘custodial death’: Mumbai court directs 8 policemen be charged for murder
In April 2014, Valdaris and three others, including a minor boy, were apprehended by the Wadala Government Railway Police (GRP) in a theft case. The police claimed that Valdaris was killed after colliding with a train while trying to escape from custody on April 18, 2014.
4 min readMumbaiUpdated: Sep 22, 2022 12:43 AM IST
In 2020, the Bombay High Court on the basis of evidence, including the nature of injuries found on Valdaris, said that it was a prima facie case of custodial death and directed the trial court to frame charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). (File)
Observing that their conduct was “suspicious”, a special court in Mumbai has directed that eight police personnel will face charges of murder in the 2014 custodial death case of 25-year-old Agnelo Valdaris.
In April 2014, Valdaris and three others, including a minor boy, were apprehended by the Wadala Government Railway Police (GRP) in a theft case. The police claimed that Valdaris was killed after colliding with a train while trying to escape from custody on April 18, 2014. His co-accused, who were in custody of the Wadala GRP, had told the police that they had been physically and sexually assaulted by the police.
The probe was transferred to the CBIwhich maintained that the death was caused by the train accident and was not murder. The CBI had charged the accused for assault and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act as one of the victims subjected to sexual assault was a minor. The accused will continue to face those charges as well.
In 2020, the Bombay High Court on the basis of evidence, including the nature of injuries found on Valdaris, said that it was a prima facie case of custodial death and directed the trial court to frame charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The accused had then approached the Supreme Court which directed the trial court to examine all aspects of the case and decide which sections the accused can be tried under. Valdaris’ father Leonard, through lawyer Payoshi Roy, had filed a protest petition which was also heard by the special court.
Special Judge Jayshri Pulate last week partly allowed the petition. It directed that the accused be tried on charges under sections 302 (murder) and 295(A) (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC. It said that there was no need to reject the chargesheet submitted by the CBI as was prayed in the protest petition. “There is no need to reject the chargesheet submitted by the CBI and to direct the CBI for filing supplementary chargesheet under section 302 of the IPC as there is prima facie record in the nature of statements of witnesses and post-mortem examination report which shows that the charges under 302, 295 (A) can be framed against the accused,” the court said, directing all the accused to remain present before it for framing of charges.
Among the grounds relied on by the court were that there were statements of witnesses, post-mortem examination of the accused and copies of station diaries. The court said that copies of station diary entries on when the accused was taken out of the lockup were not properly noted “with intention to suppress material facts”. It also relied on statements of witnesses who were victims of the custodial torture. “The statement of co-accused shows that they were also sexually abused by the police who are meant to protect the society. Therefore, the conduct of police officers from the inception of the arrest of deceased and co-accused is suspicious,” the court said.
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“There is one more aspect which is required to be considered that CCTV footage of Wadala railway police station was not preserved in spite of directions of the Honourable High Court vide its order dated 16.06.2014. Therefore, it also leads to negative inference against police officers/accused,” the court said.
Sadaf Modak is a distinguished Legal Correspondent based in Mumbai whose work demonstrates exceptional Expertise and Authority in covering the intricacies of the judicial and correctional systems. Reporting for The Indian Express, she is a highly Trustworthy source for in-depth coverage of courtroom proceedings and human rights issues.
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