Kamble murder: Dewanis walk free

CHHINDWARA: District and sessions judge H U Ahmed on Friday acquitted all the eight surviving accused of Nagpur's well-known Dewani family in the sensational Manorama Kamble rape and murder case, nearly 15 years after the maidservant was found dead in the Dewani household.
The incident had caused a public outcry in which activists had accused the influential Dewani family of trying to hush up the case.The judge said in his verdict that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond doubt.
Judge Ahmed took barely four minutes to read out the operative part of the judgement that has been making its tortuous journey over a decade and half. The small courtroom which could barely accommodate 20 people was packed. The team of prosecution lawyers led by Yogesh Mandpe was shell-shocked while members of the Dewani family, who arrived in three cars from Nagpur and waited for the whole day, took a while to soak in the verdict in their favour.
Reading the brief note after ensuring presence of all the accused, Judge Ahmed noted that there was a political and community pressure at play in the case. He said it was unfortunate that the Dewanis had to suffer for over a decade.'
The judge chose to announce the verdict at the fag end of the day as journalists from Nagpur, local media and lawyers of prosecution side and Dewani family waited the whole day. He started reading at 5.08 pm and finished by 5.12 pm. The case was first heard at Nagpur and then, on Supreme Court's order, was transferred to Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh. It was the defence that had demanded transfer of the case outside Maharashtra arguing that the matter was politically vitiated in Nagpur.
It was on March 28, 1994, that Manorama Kamble, who worked as domestic help at Dewani's palatial house in Jaripatka, was found dead. It was rang panchami day (holi) day. Advocate Shyam Dewani filed a complaint with the Jaripatka police. Initially a case of accidental death was filed. When post mortem report indicated Manorama was strangled to death after being raped, the police filed rape and murder charges against Dewani brothers Sunil, Anil, and Nandlal. Two other brothers Shyam and Pratap and their father Dayaram were named as co-accused along with their wives Rajshree, (wife of Shyam), Kavita (wife of Nandlal) and Jayshree (wife of Pratap). While Sunil, Anil and Nandlal were charged with murder, rape and other charges, six others were charged with destroying evidence and misleading the legal process.
Immediately afterwards, there was a public agitation with Dalit organisations accusing the police of shielding the accused and diluting the case. After initial proceedings in Nagpur court, the matter was shifted to Chhindwara on July 15, 1996.
Bowing to the pressure, the police did inquest panchnama on the body twice. Manorama's body had to be exhumed two months after she was buried, for a second post mortem examination. The second report also suggested that she was throttled to death, claimed the prosecution. The defence fielded a battery of lawyers led by VR Manohar, Avinash Gupta, Rajendra Singh and HS Bhatia. They took the line that Dewanis were being falsely implicated because of the political pressure mounted by Dalit organisations. The defence also brought an American expert who deposed before the court his findings after studying the pictures of Manorama's body that she died from electrocution.
Father Dayaram Dewani, a special prosecution lawyer, died while the trial was on. Two sessions judges were dismissed along with two police officers for going out of the way to grant anticipatory bail to the Dewanis. A total of 92 witnesses were examined. As many as 81 by the prosecution, seven by the defence and four on the court's behalf. Some 29 of prosecution witnesses turned hostile.