A trial court in Dhoraji town of Rajkot district on Friday sentenced two men to life imprisonment after they were convicted for stabbing a friend to death two years ago over recovery of Rs 2,400 that they had lent him. The court relied, among other things, on the victim's statement to a doctor after being assaulted, for pronouncing the duo guilty. The court of additional sessions judge AM Shaik on Thursday pronounced Dipak Makwana and Dayal Singh Sardar guilty of murdering Sikandar Mansuri at Mansuri's residence in Upleta town of Rajkot district on October 30, 2021. The court sent the two accused, who were 22 and 21 years old, respectively, at the time of the crime, to life imprisonment and also imposed a Rs 5,000 fine on each of them. According to the prosecution’s case, Makwana and Sardar assaulted 25-year-old Mansuri, who used to work in a steel shop in Upleta, for recovering Rs 2,400 they had allegedly lent to the victim. In her complaint, Mansuri’s mother Zarina told police that while Sardar held her son tightly, Makwana assaulted him. Mansuri immediately told her mother that he had been stabbed with a knife. An injured Mansuri was rushed to the government-run Cottage Hospital in Upleta town where Dr Nisarg Patel, then medical officer, recorded the history of the case as narrated by Mansuri, gave him treatment, and then referred him to Rajkot for further treatment. However, Mansuri died on his way to Rajkot. “As the victim’s dying declaration could not be recorded, we urged the court to treat his statement given to the doctor as to how he had sustained injuries. The victim’s mother also testified in court that Sardar overpowered her son while Makwana assaulted him. Forensic investigation also proved the presence of the victim's blood on Makwana’s clothes. The coaurt believed in our case and convicted the two accused,” Kartikey Parekh, additional public prosecutor (APP) of the case, told The Indian Express. Parekh said that Dr Patel also testified in the court that case history had been narrated to him by Mansuri and that he had recorded it accurately in the case papers of the hospital. The APP further said that while Makwana was lodged in judicial custody, Sardar had walked out on bail on September 23 last year.
