Bengaluru: Karnataka high court has refused to quash proceedings against a 20-year-old accused in a murder case, citing corroborating evidence and dying declaration of the deceased.According to case details, the youth was accused of setting his brother-in-law Naveen on fire in Sidihosakote of Anekal taluk in Bengaluru Rural district on April 14 this year. Other accused in the case are the youth’s father Sampangi and sister Suchitra.Sardar, who owns a tea stall nearby, tried to rescue Naveen by pouring water on him. The injured man was rushed to a Krishnagiri hospital in Tamil Nadu. His dying declaration was recorded by the jurisdictional magistrate on April 18.
CJP Jantar Mantar Protest Updates
Anekal police registered an attempt-to-murder case against the accused on May 2, following Navin’s death. Sampangi was named accused No. 1, the youth No. 2 and Suchitra No. 4.The youth argued that except for Naveen’s dying declaration, there is no material against him.State public prosecutor BN Jagadeesha submitted that an eyewitness account is available to corroborate the victim’s dying declaration. Justice M Nagaprasanna noted the eyewitness has specifically attributed distinct roles to the accused.According to the eyewitness statement, accused No. 1 poured petrol on his son-in-law, No. 2 struck a matchstick. The post-mortem report confirmed Naveen died due to burns and a forensic report of the bottle confirmed petrol, lending scientific assurance to the prosecution narrative, the judge added.The petitioner cannot seek adjudication on reliability of the prosecution evidence at the very threshold, when the investigation has yielded a dying declaration, an independent eyewitness account and scientific evidence lending prima facie support to the prosecution story, the judge observed.
