The incident generated widespread nationaland international coverage and was widely condemned both inIndia and abroad.This incident brought in questionthe safety of women into city like Mumbai which, with its activenight life was considered safe heaven for women.The SessionsCourt in Delhi, delivered its verdict on 10th September 2013,convicting the perpetrators of the crime.Another incident inthe financial capital of the country - Mumbai, shocked thewhole nation.This time it was another young girl Esther aged22 years who fell prey of the bestial proclivity at the hands of aman who ended her journey of life mercilessly for satisfying hislust."It took me quite a long time to develop the voice and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent"2 The prosecution case, as unfolded, discloses thatMs.Esther Anuhya, aged 23 years, on completion of her B-TechDegree course, was recruited as a Software Engineer in TCS inGoregaon at Mumbai.The deceased was a resident ofMachilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh and had completed hergraduation from Kakinada.On acquiring a degree, she shiftedto the city of Mumbai and was residing in YWCA Hostel forWomen in Andheri.The deceased came to reside with her parents atMachilipatnam on account of the leave availed by her and shestayed there from 22nd December 2013 to 4th January 2014.Shri Singavarapa Surendra Prasad, PW No.26, the father of thedeceased accompanied her to Vijaywada, nearest Railwaystation to Machilipatnam at about 5.00 a.m on 4th JanuaryTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 6 CONF_CASE_3_15.doc2014, from where a train was available to Mumbai.Estherboarded LTT Express at Visakhapatnam which reaches Mumbaion the next day at 5.00 a.m. At 9.00 p.m, she had a telephonicconversation with her father and she informed her father thatshe had reached Solapur.The LTT Express was to reachMumbai at 5.00 a.m in the morning and accordingly reachedthe station.PW No.26 - Singavarapa - attempted to contacther in the morning on her mobile phone to inquire whether shehad reached safely, but the call was not answered and themobile went on ringing.The father, thereafter, contacted theHostel to inquire whether Esther had reached there but hereceived a reply in the negative.On 5th January 2014 itself, thefather (PW 26) approached Vijaywada Railway Police Stationand lodged a missing complaint.With the said missingcomplaint, the devastated father landed at Lokmanya TilakTerminus Railway Station, Mumbai.He was informed by therailway police that the jurisdiction was that of Kurla PoliceStation and resultantly, he approached the Kurla Police Station.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::Then, began a frantic search of Esther and itcontinued till the date when it was revealed on the father thatTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 7 CONF_CASE_3_15.dochis daughter is no longer alive and this happened on 16 thJanuary 2014 when body of Esther was traced in the bushes onthe Express Highway.The body was found in a burnt anddecomposed condition but the father could identify Esther, hisdaughter by the ring in her finger and also from her belongingswhich were lying nearby.The area where the body was tracedwas falling in Kanjur Marg area and a complaint came to belodged at Kanjur Marg police station alleging that Esther wasmurdered by some unknown person.3 On a complaint being lodged, the Investigatingmachinery was set into motion by the Kanjur Marg PoliceStation.The spot panchnama was drawn in presence of panchwitnesses.A broken wrist watch of Fast Track Company,knicker and a pad, one pink colour T-shirt of 'M' size, one scarfof slate colour with white dots, one mobile phone containingTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 8 CONF_CASE_3_15.doctwo sim cards, and a tuft of hair were found lying on the spotand all the said articles were seized by drawing a panchnama.The same were forwarded to the Forensic Laboratory.A map ofthe spot came to be drawn and it reveals that the said spot is ata distance of approximately 8.90 metres from the Service Roadadjoining to the Eastern Express.The Forensic Personnels whoreached the spot also collected the samples of soil, dry grassand oily grass at the place of incident.The photographer wasalso summoned who clicked the photographs of the spot alongwith the photographs of the body of the deceased.InquestPanchnama was drawn in presence of panch witness and itdivulged that the body was in a partly burnt condition and onthe chest portion, there was a black brassiere which was alsopartly burnt.The portion of abdomen was completely burnt,whereas the private parts and adjoining parts were found to bepartly burnt.and reserved the final opinion, pending the Chemical Analysisof the samples.4 The investigation was carried out initially by KanjurMarg Police Station but it came to be transferred to the CrimeBranch.PI Dattatraya Naikodi registered the FIR, and carriedout further investigation in Crime No.6 of 2014 for the offencepunishable under Sections 302 and 201 of the Indian PenalCode.Further investigation was carried out by PW No. 34Nishikant Tungare, Sr.Police Inspector attached to Kanjur MargPolice Station.During the investigation, the CCTV footage fromthe Lokmanya Tilak Terminus was obtained with the assistanceof PW No.33 Shri Vishal Patil who was on duty in RPF, sincethe security of LTT was under the Government Railway Forceand RPF.The necessary clippings/footage was collected fromthe 36 cameras installed at the LTT Railway Station.The CCTVfootage revealed that Esther had walked out of the Railwaystation on 5th January along with one stranger who was walkingalong with her, carrying her trolley bag.Thecomplainant identified his daughter who was going along witha trolley and while coming out, she was talking on mobile andone stranger was pulling her trolley bag.Similarly, one Nokia Mobile was alsoTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 11 CONF_CASE_3_15.docfound in another pocket of his jeans pant with one sim cardwhich was seized.After the arrest of the accused, he made astatement of disclosure in presence of panch witness that hewas ready to produce the motor cycle which was used by him tocarry the deceased to the spot of crime.On such disclosurestatement being made, the motor cycle came to be seized.Further, the accused also made disclosure statement leading toseizure of bag and articles belonging to the deceased whichcame to be seized from two distinct places.The said articleswere identified by the complainant as the one belonging to hisdaughter.On seizure, the said articles were forwarded forChemical Analysis.The accused was also referred for medicalexamination and was examined by Dr.The spot panchnama reveals that the body of thedeceased was found at a place located to the East of the ServiceRoad of Eastern Express Highway at a distance of about 29 feet.All the said articles were seized from thesaid spot and came to be seized.The Inquest panchnamadiscloses that the dead body of the deceased was partly burntand blackened.It also mentions of long black hair of thedeceased which were found in partly burnt condition, eyes wereopen and had blackened.The face was completely burnt and soalso both the ears.Some portion of the body including the lefthand was bereft of any skin and was exposed.The right handwas spread over and the second finger was bent and yellowmetal ring was found in the middle figure.The caseof the prosecution is unfolded by the complainant, the father ofthe deceased who is examined as PW no.26 i.e. Singavarapa.PW No.26 is resident of Nobel Colony, Machilipatnam, AndhraPradesh.Deceased Esther, aged 23 years was his daughter.Hehas deposed before the Court that she had completed her B-Tech and she was a scholar academically and on acquiring theeducational qualification, she immediately secured a job in TCSas a software engineer.In Mumbai, he had arranged for herstay in YWCA Hostel for Women at Andheri.Shri Singavarapadeposed that whenever his daughter used to get leave, she usedTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:25 ::: 28 CONF_CASE_3_15.docto come to stay in Machilipatnam and on 22 nd December 2013,she came to reside with him and stayed till 4th January 2014.He further deposed that on 4 th January 2014, he took her toVijaywada which was the nearest railway station and fromthere, she boarded LTT Express which reaches Mumbai at 5.00a.m on the next day.He contacted her on her mobile phone at9.00 p.m when he was informed by his daughter that she hadreached Solapur and that she was going to sleep.He hasfurther deposed that when he attempted to contact her in themorning, her mobile phone was ringing but nobody wasresponding.He, therefore, contacted the YWCA Hostel and itwas reported that Esther did not report to the hostel.Shrikant Ladeis a Post Graduate in Bio-Chemistry and trained at Centre forDNA Finger Printing Diagnosis at Hyderabad.He had deposedthat he had handled 2500 cases and had given evidence in 200cases.In his deposition, he has given the details of theuniqueness of a body cell containing DNA and has deposedDNA technique is a very sensitive and stable technique.Hedeposed that from 15 intact cells, DNA profile is generated andthe source of DNA is stated to be any type of body cell, blood,semen, saliva, hair with root without root, teeth, nails,dandruff, ear wax, muscle tissues and bone.He furtherdeposed that on 18th January 2014, he received a letter fromKanjur Marg Police Station and received 2 sealed phials, onesealed test tube and three plastic containers in sealed condition.He further deposed that the description of articles in parcelswas blood sample of Singaravapa, the father of the deceased.He was requested by the Investigating Agency to examine theTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:25 ::: 31 CONF_CASE_3_15.docvaginal swab, bone, teeth and nail of deceased as against theblood sample of the claimant i.e Singavarapa (PW 26).Hefurther deposed that he extracted DNA from the bone teeth andblood sample of Singavarappa and the DNA profiles weregenerated.Hefurther deposed that he had also obtained the articles in sealedparcel i.e Identity card, belt, spectacles, jeans pant, ladies halfT-shirt, ladies top, kajal pencil and he had extracted DNA fromsweat detected from Exhibit-1 i.e. Identity card with belt andspectacles and the bone of deceased which was received at thetime of earlier DNA sampling.He opined that DNA profileof sweat detected on Identity card, belt and spectacles and DNAprofile of bone teeth is identical and from one and the samesource of female origin.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:25 :::14 The deceased Esther who had boarded the train atVisakhapatnam, reached its destination at Mumbai with Estherbut thereafter, her whereabouts were not known and she didnot report to the Women's Hostel at Andheri where she waslodged.The Investigating Agency was therefore, focused oninvestigating as to how did this young girl who alighted thetrain at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, reached the place where herbody was traced i.e. on the Service road adjoining the EasternExpress Highway.The prosecution relied on the CCTV footagefrom the cameras which were installed on the Lokmanya TilakTerminus to establish and prove that Esther had reached LTT.The Investigating Agency approached the RPF authorities sincethe security of the LTT was entrusted to the GovernmentRailway Force and the RPF.He also informed that he was a coolie and his services areTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:25 ::: 43 CONF_CASE_3_15.docconfirmed as a gang-man.PW No.19 Surendra informed thesaid person that he can go to the General coach and he wentthere and came back informing that there was no place in thegeneral boggie and thereafter this witness told the said personto go to sleeper coach since there was quota for NashikManmad.PW No.19 deposed that the said person was havingThumbs-up bottle in his hand and there was no luggage.The CCTV footage which was obtained, during thecourse of investigation, was also shown to one Hemant DharmaKohli examined as PW No.27 who was residing in the vicinitywhere the accused was residing i.e. at Kanjur Marg.The saidwitness deposed that he knew the accused Chandrabhan Sanapand his family members since he was residing in the same areawhere the witness was residing.When the CCTV footage wasshown to him, he identified the person in the footage walkingon the platform with one bottle of cold-drink in his hand.Hefurther deposed to the Court that he identified the said personin another footage as Chandrabhan Sanap who was pulling thetrolley bag.Nandkishore deposed that heknew him as he was staying at Kanjur Marg and they used toplay cards.He deposed that on 4th January 2014, he visitedRajashree who was staying in the chawl and doing the businessof selling liquor, where he consumed liquor till 11.30 p.m. Hestated that at about 11.30 p.m, Chowkya came there and sat forconsuming liquor and till 1.30 a.m, they were sitting there.During the search, one xerox copyof letter was found in his back pocket of jeans pant and onfurther inquiry, it was found that it was a kundli prepared byJyotish Visarath Rajabhau Aher.ShriRajabhau Aher deposed before the Court that he was anAstrologer and used to prepare Horoscope.He deposed thaton 5th January 2014, at about 2.00 p.m, he was approached byChandrabhan Sanap who was accompanied by one elderly lady.The witness deposed that he was under pressure and he toldhim that his stars are not good and therefore, he wants to showhis horoscope.Accordingly, the horoscope was prepared andPW No.17 informed the accused that there are few faults in hishoroscope Kal Sarp Dosh and Ati Gandh dosh and he advisedhim to perform Shanti Puja at Trimbakeshwar.The witnessdeposed that he handed over to the accused the visiting card ofTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:26 ::: 53 CONF_CASE_3_15.docone Prasad Shukla and asked him to approach him to performthe puja.He accepted an amount ofRs.3,000/- from the accused and performed puja on 6th January2014 at 7.30 a.m which was completed at 11.45 a.m. Thewitness deposed that the accused was accompanied by hismother.The accused further deposed that he asked him aspecific query as to whether a sin committed towards a ladycould be cleared by performing this puja, to which the witnessreplied that there is no relation between one's act and this Puja,but because of this puja, problems are solved.The prosecutionhas relied on the Register maintained by this witness and whodeposed before the Court that he used to maintain the registerand enter the name of the person, date and amount.Theprosecution has relied on the testimony of one Pralhad KumarYadav examined as PW No.23 who happened to be strolling hisdog on the highway near Service road in the morning hours.The said witness deposed before the Court that he was workingin a Salt Office which was located between Kanjur Marg andBhandup and he was staying in the office.He had furtherdeposed that in early morning, he used to take the dogbelonging to his owner for stroll on highway near service road.On 19th January 2014, one constable approached the saidwitness and took him to the police station for making certaininquiries.He revealed to the police that he had seen oneperson starting the bike near service road and when he inquiredfrom the said person whether his bike was not starting.Thewitness deposed that when he saw the said person, he foundmud on his shoulder and he inquired whether he had a fallwhich the person answered in the negative.He furtherinquired whether he should assist him in starting the bike toTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:26 ::: 56 CONF_CASE_3_15.docwhich the person answered that there was no petrol in the tank.The witness further deposed that there was one bag on his backand one bag was kept on the petrol tank.Thereafter, he parkedthe said bike and he started proceeding towards Vikhroli andalso pulled the trolley bag.The said witness has deposed thatthe said person was walking in front of him and was wearing awhite colour t-shirt and blue colour jeans pant and his heightwas 5.5" and complexion was of wheatish colour.The said witness also identified theaccused present on the screen of the video conferencing and heclarified that he is the same person, but at that time, he was nothaving a beard and he was of a strong built.She further deposed that when sheasked the accused why he is giving the same, he informed thathis sister is no more and, therefore, he gives the black colourbag of the wheels.(iii) An old jeans pant of blue colour;(iv) An used ash gray colour half ladies T-Shirt and another black and pink hosiery ladies top.(v) A light blue colour pant and one leggings of green colour.(vi) One used eye pencil of Maybelline company.The said articles came to be seized on executing aseizure panchnama at the instance of the accused from RoomNo.12 in Sai Building where the sister of the accused wasresiding and running a mess.were not answered and she did not reach her hostel located inAndheri.1 An incident of rape and fatal assault that occurredin the National Capital on 16 th December 2012 which involveda 23 year old physiotherapist intern, shocked the conscience ofthe whole nation.There was unrest and public protest in thecapital which was followed in several major cities in its ownway.Social networking sites were put to use to raise a demandof strict law against rape.This resulted into constitution of aTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:23 ::: 3 CONF_CASE_3_15.docthree Member Committee on 23rd December 2012 headed bythe Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice J.S.Verma to recommend amendments to the Criminal Law so as toprovide for speedy trial and enhance punishment for offence ofsexual assault against woman.This was followed by the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairstabling its report recommending amendments to the criminallaw.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:23 :::Barely could have the law makers given a sigh ofrelief by enacting a drastic law dealing with the offencesagainst women and before the Court seized of the said trial,Tilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:23 ::: 4 CONF_CASE_3_15.doccould deliver its verdict, in August 2013, a 22 year old photojournalist who was interning with an English Magazine inMumbai was gang raped by five persons, including a juvenilewhen she had gone to the deserted Shakti Mills Compound inrelation to an assignment.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:23 :::The series of incidents which came to highlight andseveral other incidents which are not even reported by themedia or not even reported to the police have resulted in theentire womenfolk in the country posing a question of theirsafety and security.The entire womenfolk is heard raising anoutcry and find themselves in a panic striken state of mind andTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 5 CONF_CASE_3_15.docexpect the Executive Legislature and the Judiciary to restoretheir faith in the system.They echo the sentiments similar towhat Madeleine Albright has once remarked :-::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::The body was handedover to the grief-striken father on 17th January 2014 aftercompletion of the necessary formalities for the purpose ofconduct of last ritual and the father carried it to Machilipatnamfor performance of last rites.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::The body was forwarded for post mortem to Sir J.J.Hospital and PW No.25 Dr. Gajanan Chavan conducted the postmortem and submitted a report and expressed the probablecause of death as "Blunt injuries over body and genital injuries"::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::His statement came tobe recorded.On the basis of the CCTV footage, an investigationteam proceeded to carry out further investigation and madeinquiries from the persons on the railway station and nearbyspot on the Expressway where the body was found.Based oncertain statements which came to be recorded, the InvestigatingMachinery succeeded in arresting one Chandrabhan Sanap asthe person who was accompanying Esther on 5 th January 2014while coming out of Platform No.4 as seen in the CCTV footage.The accused Shri Chandrabhan Sanap came to be arrested videArrest Panchnama dated 2nd March 2014 and panch SalimMushtaq Shaikh executed the said panchnama.The accusedwas taken into custody at Kanjur Marg Police Station and onphysical search of the accused, one piece of paper was found inhis back pocket of jeans pant and it was a writing of anAstrologer Rajabhau Aher from Nashik, Trimbakeshwar.It wasin the form of a Kundli.Kushal Tayde whoopined that his genital organs are normal and that he wascapable of performing a sexual act.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::On completion of the investigation, chargesheet wasfiled before the Addl.The prosecution alleged that deceased Esther, resident ofTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 12 CONF_CASE_3_15.docVijaywada, working at TCS in Mumbai had boarded LTTExpress at Vijaywada on 4th January 2014 to reach Mumbai.However, when she reached Mumbai, she was kidnapped byaccused Chandrabhan Sanap who took her to the place ofincident and after committing rape on her, committed hermurder and in order to destroy the evidence, burned the bodyat a secluded place at a close distance on the EasternExpressway.The accused was charged for abducting Esther on5th January 2014 at 5.30 am from Lokmanya Tilak TerminusStation on the pretext of dropping her at the hostel andthereafter he made to sit her on his bike and took her to alonely place behind the bushes on Mumbai-Thane Service Roadand forcibly committed sexual intercourse with her.He wascharged with Sections 364, 366, 376(2)(m), 376(A), 392 r/wSection 397, 302, and 201 of Indian Penal Code.He was alsocharged with offence punishable under Section 170 of the IPCsince he pretended to hold office of Railway Security RPF andby assuming his character as such, refrained from payingParking charges.He was also charged with Section 147 of theRailways Act, 1989 for committing an offence of trespass.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::The accused pleaded not guilty to all the saidcharges and thereafter, the prosecution proceeded to prove thecharges against the accused by adducing evidence.Theprosecution examined 39 witnesses.The statement of theaccused under Section 313 of the Code of Criminal Procedurecame to be recorded and the accused examined four witnessesin his defence.The learned Addl.Sessions Judge convicted the accusedfor the offence punishable under Sections 302, 364, 366,376(2)(m), 376A, 392 r/w Section 397 and 201 of the IPC.Hewas acquitted of the offences punishable under Section 170 ofthe IPC and Section 147 of the Indian Railways Act. Foroffence punishable under Section 302 of the IPC and theaccused was ordered to be hanged by neck till he is dead.Onconviction under Section 364, 366 and 376(2)(m), the accusedwas sentenced to suffer Rigorous Imprisonment for 10 yearsseparately.On conviction under Section 376A, he is sentencedTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 14 CONF_CASE_3_15.docto suffer RI for Life, which shall mean the Imprisonment forremainder of his natural life.For offence punishable underSection 392 r/w Section 397, he is sentenced to suffer RI for 7years.Further, for offence punishable under Section 201 of theIPC, he is sentenced to suffer RI for 7 years.All the substantivesentences of the Imprisonment of the accused are directed torun concurrently.The accused is directed to pay compensationof Rs.50,000/- which is directed to be paid to the parents of thedeceased provided they are ready to accept the same.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::While imposing the death sentence, the Addl.learned Sessions Judge has recorded that the accused has actedwith extreme brutality and committed the offence in a pre-planned and a diabolical manner.TheConfirmation Case No.3 of 2015 which has been placed beforethe High Court came to be tagged by order dated 5th January2016 with Criminal Appeal No.1111 of 2015 filed by theTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 16 CONF_CASE_3_15.docaccused/appellant.Both thematters were taken up for final hearing on 11th October 2018and accordingly, the accused was directed to be produced.Weconcluded the hearing of the matter on 1st November 2018 afterconducting day to day hearing.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::Raja Thakare.In Criminal Appeal No.1111 of2015, Shri Nitin Pradhan appears for the appellant and theState is represented by Special Public Prosecutor Shri Thakare.We have heard both the matters on day-to-day basis and theaccused was present in the Court on all the dates of hearing.7 With the assistance of the learned Special PublicProsecutor Shri Thakare and Shri Pradhan learned counsel forthe accused, we have scrutinized the entire record and theevidence brought on record by the prosecution and also theTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 17 CONF_CASE_3_15.docdefence.The learned counsel Shri Pradhan appearing for theappellant would submit that the prosecution has not dischargedits burden in proving the guilt of the accused beyondreasonable doubt when it was duty bound to establish all thepieces of incriminating circumstances by reliable and clinchingevidence and the circumstances so proved must result into achain of events which would lead to no conclusion other thanthe guilt of the accused.Shri Pradhan would submit that thecircumstances cannot lead to other hypothesis and meresuspicion, however, grave it may be, cannot be a substitute fora proof and in the case based on circumstantial evidence, theCourt must be extra cautious in relying on the evidence broughton record by the prosecution.Shri Pradhan would submit thatin the present case, several links are missing and there is noproof of any motive, much less a strong motive attributed to theaccused and in absence of such proof, the most vitalrequirement of law to prove a case of circumstantial evidence isnon-existence.Shri Pradhan submits that body of the deceasedwhich was discovered, was in an advanced stage ofdecomposition and was beyond recognition and in thisTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 18 CONF_CASE_3_15.docbackground, the prosecution has not made out a case of rapeand in fact, no injuries to that effect could be discerned fromthe post mortem report and Shri Pradhan is very critical aboutthe manner in which the prosecution has brought an improvedversion of its case through the doctor who conducted the postmortem by raising certain queries and in its response, thenproceeded to foist a charge of rape on the accused.Shri Pradhan has also disputed the legality of theevidence brought on record in form of CCTV footage, which isthe only genesis on the basis of which the prosecution isderiving an inference that the deceased was last seen in theTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 19 CONF_CASE_3_15.doccompany of the accused.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::8 As against this, Special Public Prosecutor ShriThakare submits that the prosecution has successfullyestablished the circumstances which pointed to the accused andthe Special P.P would submit that it has not relied on a solitaryTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 20 CONF_CASE_3_15.doccircumstance but through the evidence brought on record, theprosecution has established a chain of circumstances which isaptly corroborated and led to an irresistible conclusion that itwas only the accused who had committed the crime.His submission isTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 21 CONF_CASE_3_15.docthat the subsequent conduct of the accused after commission ofthe crime has also been brought on record through evidence ofthe witnesses who had deposed about the acts of the accused inthe normal course and Shri Thakare submits that thestatements of these witnesses were recorded even before theInvestigating Agency had zeroed down on the accused to be theperson who was responsible for causing death of the accused.Shri Thakare would submit that the Sessions Court, by takinginto consideration the totality of circumstances and thecumulative effect of the evidence brought on record hasappreciated the same in light of the well settled norms ofcriminal jurisprudence and has arrived at a finding of guiltagainst the accused.As far as the imposition of death penalty isconcerned, we would refer to his submission a while later whenwe come to the point of sentencing.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::9 The case of the prosecution is based oncircumstantial evidence and the prosecution has relied on 39witnesses to establish its case apart from several documentaryevidence.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::the prosecution places reliance on the spot panchnama provedby PW-2 Bapu Adsul.The spot panchnama discloses that on the said place a space of5 x 3 feet was in a burned condition and at a distance about 8feet from the said place there is a space of 4 x 3 feet which isblackish in colour where the dead body was lying.The spotpanchnama further reveals that on careful perusal of the spot,at the north of the said place, a Samsung Duos company mobileis lying at a distance of 5 feet.One rubber mobile cover darkblue in colour was also found lying on the spot.On the spotone black gray colour scarf with white spots was also foundwhich came to be seized.On the spot one pink colour T-Shirtin partly burned condition with M-size also came to be seizedfrom the spot.Further, at a distance of 2 feet from where thebody was lying, one Fast track company watch with a black dialwith broken belt was also lying on the spot.The spotTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 23 CONF_CASE_3_15.docpanchnama further reveals that a purple colour doted knickerand white colour pad attached to the said knicker was alsolying on the spot.The chest portionwas found to be completely burned and the black brassiere wasattached to the body and the portion of abdomen was charred.::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::The body of the deceased was sent for conduct ofpostmortem and Dr.The postmortemTilak ::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 ::: 24 CONF_CASE_3_15.docreport relied on by the prosecution also refers to black colourbra with avulsed hook-metallic.Rigor mortis was absent in thebody and postmortem report makes mention to the followingeffect:::: Uploaded on - 20/12/2018 ::: Downloaded on - 25/12/2018 22:07:24 :::"Variable mix pattern of decomposition seen.Facial skin burnt, blackish adherent to skull bone, Skin absent at some places of extremities and abdomen exposing bones and abdominal viscera at places.Ends of long bones are nibbled and exposed.Natural separations seen at most of the joints without evidence of ante mortem fractures No Maggots".As far as the column of surface wound and injuries thepostmortem notes mention as under :1. Contusion over LT-Left fronto temporal area 4 x 5 cm, blackish red colour."2. Contusion over lower lip right side against canines- blackish red in colour 2 x 2 cm.Both contusion confirmed by cut section.The pos