Brothers get life for murder in interfaith relationship dispute

Mumbai: Almost a decade after their arrests, a sessions court recently convicted and sentenced two brothers to life imprisonment for the murder of a man who intervened in their altercation with his friend. The murder stemmed from the brothers' disapproval of their sister's interfaith relationship with the victim, Anis Sayyed's friend Javed Shaikh. Relying on eyewitness statements, Judge M H Pathan said it was proved that the accused, Uday Mandal (32), hit Anis with a hammer on his head and Vikas Mandal (38) used a paver block to assault him. "It is also clear that there was no enmity between the accused and the family of the deceased. Therefore, no question arose for false implication of the accused in this case. Merely the investigation officer delayed in registering the crime is not fatal to the prosecution case," the judge said.Awarding the minimum sentence of life imprisonment, the judge also said this was not the rarest of rare cases to award the death penalty. "...I am of the view that leniency can be shown to the accused by awarding lesser punishment, ie, minimum punishment," the judge said.The incident that took place on May 11, 2015. An eyewitness stated that Javed was involved in a relationship with Uday's sister. The day before the incident, Uday met Javed in Poisar and took him aside for a discussion. Anis demanded Uday speak to Javed in his presence. This led to a verbal altercation and a physical scuffle.Mumbai: Almost a decade after their arrests, a sessions court recently convicted and sentenced two brothers to life imprisonment for the murder of a man who intervened in their altercation with his friend. The murder stemmed from the brothers' disapproval of their sister's interfaith relationship with the victim, Anis Sayyed's friend Javed Shaikh. Relying on eyewitness statements, Judge M H Pathan said it was proved that the accused, Uday Mandal (32), hit Anis with a hammer on his head and Vikas Mandal (38) used a paver block to assault him. "It is also clear that there was no enmity between the accused and the family of the deceased. Therefore, no question arose for false implication of the accused in this case. Merely the investigation officer delayed in registering the crime is not fatal to the prosecution case," the judge said.Awarding the minimum sentence of life imprisonment, the judge also said this was not the rarest of rare cases to award the death penalty. "...I am of the view that leniency can be shown to the accused by awarding lesser punishment, ie, minimum punishment," the judge said.The incident that took place on May 11, 2015. An eyewitness stated that Javed was involved in a relationship with Uday's sister. The day before the incident, Uday met Javed in Poisar and took him aside for a discussion. Anis demanded Uday speak to Javed in his presence. This led to a verbal altercation and a physical scuffle.