Panaji: A local court has directed that charges of attempt to murder be framed against Sahil Hasan Bapu in connection with the death of tourist Mothe Sairam at Chapora in Sept last year.Public prosecutor Shivram Patil submitted that there was no requirement of a test identification parade, as CCTV footage clearly shows the victim being assaulted by the accused without any provocation and establishes his identity.“Prima facie, I find that based on the CCTV footage and the eyewitness accounts borne out of the statements recorded by the police, there is sufficient material on record raising a grave suspicion against the accused that he has committed the offence of attempting to murder Mothe Sairam with a koita,” stated additional sessions judge I, Merces, Tiswadi, Bosco G F Roberts.According to the prosecution, Sairam had come to Goa on vacation in Sep and was staying with a friend at a hostel in Anjuna. On Sep 16, after midnight, he visited House of Chapora bar and restaurant, where he allegedly consumed alcohol. He later left around 3am for the hostel without informing his friend, but lost his way in the locality.The prosecution alleged that Bapu confronted him with a chopper and questioned why he had come to his house, before assaulting him on the head. The attack left Sairam unconscious and bleeding at the spot.His friend, who later went in search of him, found him lying in a pool of blood with a head injury and immediately shifted him to Goa Medical College for treatment.Bapu’s advocate, Michael Nazareth, argued that the accused did not know Sairam and had no prior enmity with him, and therefore there was no motive to kill. He contended that, at most, charges of causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon could be framed against him.The court, however, observed that the contention for framing lesser charges cannot be countenanced at this stage, as it would amount to appreciation of evidence on record, which is impermissible during the stage of framing of charges and requires full trial examination.
