2019 pedestrian death case: Pernem court acquits accused due to lack of evidence

Panaji: A Pernem court acquitted Kapil Dhavlikar, 27, who dashed his car into a pedestrian, leading to her death in 2019. The court stated that the prosecution failed to prove its case.

Although the prosecution proved that an accident had occurred in which the pedestrian lady died, it failed to prove that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent driving of the accused, the court held.

The incident occurred after 7pm in March 2019 near the Malpe railway station.

The 58-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries at GMC while undergoing treatment. The court held that there was no eyewitness to the incident. One of the eyewitnesses testified that he learned about the accident only after arriving at the scene and did not witness it.

Two other supposed eyewitnesses also failed to support the prosecution's case.

The court found that the statement of one of the persons from the crowd who showed the point of impact was not recorded by the investigating officer, nor was he examined in the present case.

“Even otherwise, it is also not the case of the IO that the said member of the crowd is the eyewitness to the accident. Therefore, one fails to understand on what basis the investigating officer came to know the point of impact, as the vehicles were admittedly not at the alleged point of impact when they reached the spot,” stated Shabnam Pratap Nagvekar, JMFC, Pernem.

“There is no material on record to prove the case of the prosecution that at the relevant time, the accused drove his vehicle in a rash and negligent manner,” the court held.

“I am of the opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove that the accused drove his vehicle in such a way that it showed disregard for the life and safety of others,” the court added.