Trio convicted in 2020 assault case slapped with fines, no prison

Panaji: A North Goa court has convicted Suraj Kurtikar, Kishor Kurtikar and Ulhas Kavlekar from Mandur and Azossim in a 2020 assault case and has ordered them to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 each and compensation of Rs 3,000 each to each of the victims.

The prosecution said the accused persons abused Ashish Naik and his friends with filthy words and assaulted them with broken beer bottles in Nov 2020 near Dongrim Tinto, Tiswadi, grievously injuring Naik’s head and Parag Shirodkar’s right forearm.

The court observed that the complainant, Naik, deposed in line with the prosecution’s case and also stood firm during his cross-examination. Based on the evidence on record, the court said that the assault on Naik was proven.

It also convicted all three for intentional insult aimed at provoking peace. “Considering that the accused persons are first-time offenders... any sentence of imprisonment would be too harsh. Thus, I am inclined to show some leniency towards them, while also considering they have family with old parents,” said JMFC, Merces, Manisha Parkar.