Badlapur 2018 assault: Praveen Mukane gets eight years' rigorous imprisonment for culpable homicide

A court in Thane district has convicted Praveen Santosh Mukane of culpable homicide in connection with an assault in Badlapur in 2018 and sentenced him to eight years of rigorous imprisonment. The court said the prosecution had not been able to prove that he struck with the intention of committing murder.

The verdict was delivered on Friday by Additional Sessions Judge R V Tamhanekar of the Kalyan court. The second accused in the case, Satyawan Balkrishna Waghe, was acquitted of all charges, with the court giving him the benefit of doubt.

According to the prosecution, the incident took place on the night of November 7, 2018. A quarrel broke out near a grocery shop in Badlapur, Thane district, between Rajesh alias Chidya Ramesh Waghe and the accused. It is alleged that during the quarrel, Waghe brought a wooden stick and handed it to Mukane, who struck Rajesh on the head with it.

The prosecution said the injured Rajesh was rushed to hospital, but doctors declared him dead on arrival. The police then registered an FIR against the accused under Sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

During the trial, the prosecution examined 11 witnesses. Additional Public Prosecutor Kadambini M Khandagale said: "During the trial, the prosecution examined 11 witnesses. Medical reports and post-mortem findings were also produced, which established that the cause of death was an unnatural injury to the head."

After examining the evidence, the judge said that against the main assailant, the prosecution had proved his act and his knowledge, but could not prove a premeditated intention to murder. Mukane was therefore convicted under Section 304 (Part II) of the IPC. This section deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, whereas the original charge was under Section 302.

Besides the eight-year rigorous imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Mukane. If he fails to pay, he will have to serve an additional two months of rigorous imprisonment. The court also allowed the time he has spent in jail as an undertrial since November 8, 2018 to be set off against the sentence.

The court has also issued a direction for the dependants of the deceased. The District Legal Services Authority, Thane, has been asked to assess appropriate compensation.