Mumbai: A sessions court convicted and sentenced a 45-year-old labourer to life imprisonment for the brutal 2020 murder of a man and the attempted murder of an eyewitness using an iron hammer. The court found the accused Subal Choudhary, also known as Bangali, guilty of killing Javed Siddiqui Shaikh and grievously injuring Ayaz Khan following a late-night altercation in a Kurla chawl. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused, noting that the assault was carried out with clear lethal intent. The incident occurred in the early hours of Aug 19, 2020, at Indira Nagar. According to the prosecution, Khan heard a loud quarrel and discovered Choudhary and Shaikh engaged in a physical fight. When Khan attempted to intervene, Choudhary retrieved an iron hammer from beneath a kitchen platform and struck Shaikh repeatedly on the head. Khan was also attacked with the same weapon when he tried to stop the assault. While Khan managed to flee and seek help, Shaikh was later found unresponsive and succumbed to his injuries at Sion Hospital.During the trial, the defence argued that Choudhary had acted to save himself, claiming that Shaikh and Khan had entered his home to commit theft and initiated the assault. However, the judge rejected this plea, noting the disproportionate nature of the violence. The court observed that the medical evidence, which detailed multiple fractures and crushed brain matter, was inconsistent with a claim of self-protection. Court stated, “The nature, number and seat of injuries clearly indicate intention or knowledge that such injuries were sufficient in the ordinary course of nature to cause death”. The judge relied on the testimony of Khan, who was both a victim and an eyewitness.
