MUMBAI: Eight years after the death of a Mumbai youth, Agnelo Valdaris, 24, following his arrest by Wadala police over an alleged theft, a special trial court has set October 21 as the date "for framing of murder charge" against all eight accused police officers, reports Swati Deshpande. The accused have been asked to be present on that day.
Wadala GRP personnel had arrested Valdaris and three others including a minor boy on April 15, 2014 on charges of stealing gold jewellery. They were allegedly stripped, tortured and sexually abused. Valdaris died in custody while the others were released on bail.
Plea by father of Valdaris insisted on murder charge
A special trial court has directed "all the respondents (accused)" in the Agnelo Valdaris custodial death case to "remain present" on October 21 for framing charges under Sections 302 (for murder) and 295 (A) (for acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC in addition to other "charges levelled against them in the chargesheet".
A CBI investigation said Agnelo died when he escaped from custody and was run over on the railway tracks. Police were initially chargesheeted for causing injury, wrongful confinement and criminal conspiracy-all minor offences, according to his father's plea-and it was only following Bombay high court supervision that the cops were chargesheeted under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act in 2016.
This September 17, the court partly accepted a plea by Leonard Valdaris, the victim's father, to frame charges of murder against the suspects. Valdaris, a former Mumbai Port Trust employee, sought rejection of the earlier chargesheet saying it was a case of death due to custodial torture. He had based his plea on the HC's observations in 2019 that it was a prima facie case of custodial death and that Section 302 (murder) be invoked. The policemen went on appeal before the SC.
The SC in November 2020 directed the trial court to independently "apply its mind" while deciding on the framing of charges and invoking appropriate sections.
Valdaris's counsel Payoshi Roy said the SC had also permitted the father and other victims to file protest petitions which the trial court would have to consider.
Roy said the HC had in December 2016 observed that statements recorded by CBI disclosed commission of an offence under sections 302 (murder) or 304 Part II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 377 (unnatural acts) IPC. In September 2018, CBI then filed a supplementary chargesheet adding section 377 IPC against the police officers but not section 302, IPC.
Valdaris's plea said the accused must be tried for murder as the autopsy surgeon said "immediate cause of death'' was "hemorrhage due to multiple injuries. The post-mortem report reflects that head injuries suffered by the deceased resulted in brain hemorrhage and a subarachnoid hemorrhage, both of which are life threatening and prima facie homicidal."
The protest plea said, "it is not the case of the prosecution that the train had gone over the deceased's head. Nor do the head injuries carry any deposition of black greasy material from the train tracks'', The petition cited statements of the father, a doctor who examined him and post-mortem reports and alleged "suppression of CCTV footage at Wadala railway station".
The detailed order of the court is awaited but the brief order said, "Special Public Prosecutor Abhinav Krishna is present" and all eight accused on bail are "absent''. For the first accused, his lawyer had filed an exemption plea which the court granted. Advocates Abhiman Patil representing four of the other accused and Kumawat for the remaining three were present.
