HC upholds life sentence of man who killed daughters

Upholding the conviction of a man who killed his two minor daughters,the Bombay High Court last week confirmed the life sentence awarded to him.

Ambrushi Patil,who is from a village near Kurla,allegedly strangulated his daughters Anjali (7) and Vandana (4) in September 2003. The daughters were from Patils second marriage. According to the prosecution,Patil was addicted to alcohol and ganja and had sold off a major portion of his properties and valuables to pay for his addiction. He also allegedly started ill-treating his second wife following which she left his house.

During the hearing,sarpanch of the village Bharat Deshmukh deposed before the trial court that after committing the murder,the accused told the villagers that he killed his daughters because he could not support them financially.

Arguing for Patil before the Division Bench of Justices A P Lavande and S P Davare,lawyer Arfan Sait contended that the statement made by him before the villagers was an extra-judicial confession and could not be used as evidence.

However,rejecting the argument,the bench said,There is absolutely no reason for us to disbelieve the version of the three witnesses (villagers).

Refusing to interfere with the judgment of the trial court,the bench added,We have no hesitation to hold beyond reasonable doubt that it was the accused and the accused alone,who had caused the death of two minor daughters by strangulating them with ropes.

The court also noted that while the evidence on record showed that Patil was frustrated,it was also clear that he himself was responsible for his mental condition.

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