After spending eight years in jail on charges of murdering a senior citizen in 2016, a watchman native to Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district was acquitted by a sessions court on Monday, reported Hindustan Times.
The man was initially arrested by Oshiwara police in 2016 and has been in custody since then.
During the trial, the accused’s lawyer, Wahab Khan, as per a report in Indian Express, presented a compelling case, arguing that there had been manipulation and evidence planting to falsely implicate his client, who was a poor worker.
A detailed order behind court’s reasoning has not been released yet.
The incident occurred on February 11, 2016, when the victim was found murdered in her home by her grandson. The police arrested the watchman, alleging his involvement in the crime. They claimed to have found semen stains belonging to the accused on the victim’s clothes.
In the defense’s argument, it was revealed that the watchman had been illegally detained for ten days between February 11 and February 21, 2016, by the police.
Khan contended that samples were unlawfully obtained from his client through the building’s treasurer, raising suspicion that they might have been planted while he was in illegal custody. The defense also pointed out several discrepancies in the evidence presented by the police.
Additionally, the lawyer clarified that the accused had not fled after the incident as the police had claimed. Instead, he had returned to his village after being asked to leave following a 10-day custody. The arrest, as stated by the defense, occurred in Mumbai and not from his village.
