Man on death row for murder of 3 family members acquitted by SC

The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the crime beyond reasonable doubt. “It is a primary principle that the accused “must be” and not merely “may be” guilty before a court can convict, and every possible hypothesis except the guilt of the accused has to be ruled out. In our considered opinion, in the present case, the prosecution has failed to do so,” the Supreme Court said.

On October 4, 2012, Masalkar had reported that a robbery had taken place at his residence in Pune and that his mother Shobha, wife, Archana and daughter Kimaya were killed. He also informed the police that his neighbour was injured, and gold and cash from his house, valued at Rs 3.07 lakh were missing.

The police subsequently arrested Masalkar claiming that he was having an affair with a woman and had killed his family to be able to marry her. The police case mainly relied on the statement of the neighbour and recovery of a hammer claimed to have been made at the insistence of the accused.

Masalkar’s lawyer Payoshi Roy had submitted that the neighbour’s statement was recorded six days after the crime and there was no explanation by the police for the delay. The lawyer submitted that the neighbour’s statement was taken only after Masalkar was booked for the murders.

His lawyer pointed to discrepancies in the neighbour’s statement and raised questions on why he had not named Masalkar immediately as the accused, as he was conscious and oriented. The court discarded the neighbour’s testimony agreeing with the grounds stating that it was not a trust-worthy testimony.

The court also said that the possibility of tampering with the recovery of the hammer cannot be ruled out. It said that since it was Masalkar who had reported the crime, his clothes having blood stains cannot be said to be unnatural. “That leaves us with the circumstance of motive. We find that solely on the basis of circumstance of motive, a conviction cannot be based,” the court said.