The Additional Sessions Court, South Goa, has acquitted all four accused in the 2019 Collem murder case, holding that the prosecution failed to establish a complete and reliable chain of circumstantial evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The case dates back to January 2019, when the body of a 53-year-old man from Karnataka’s Gadag district was discovered in a 24-foot-deep gorge at Anmod Ghat along the Goa-Karnataka highway. Investigators alleged that the victim had been strangled before his body was dumped into the valley.
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Police later arrested the victim’s wife and three others, claiming they had conspired to murder him after he reportedly objected to his wife’s alleged extramarital relationship with one of the co-accused.
According to the prosecution, the victim was lured to Goa on the pretext of receiving medical treatment before being killed. The prosecution relied entirely on circumstantial evidence to establish the alleged conspiracy.
However, after examining the evidence and hearing the arguments, the court concluded that the prosecution had failed to conclusively link the accused to the crime. It observed that the chain of circumstances was incomplete and did not meet the legal standard required for a conviction in a case based solely on circumstantial evidence.
As a result, the court acquitted all four accused of the charges.
Advocate Rohan Dessai represented the accused during the trial. The judgment brings an end to the six-year-old criminal case, with the court reiterating that suspicion, however strong, cannot substitute proof beyond reasonable doubt.
