Thane: Man sentenced to seven years in jail for attempting to kill minor stepdaughter

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A court in Maharashtra's Thane has sentenced a man to seven years in jail after holding him guilty of attempting to murder his 12-year-old stepdaughter by throwing her in a river, reported news agency PTI.

According to PTI, Thane Sessions Judge Dr Rachna R Tehra also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on convict Tulsiram Sunaram Saini, a resident of Vartak Nagar area of the city. The copy of the order passed on June 17 was made available on Tuesday.

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Additional Public Prosecutor Vinit A Kulkarni told the court that the girl's mother was married to Saini but began living separately after she learnt that he was already married and had children.

On June 29, 2016, Saini took his stepdaughter on a motorbike and threw her into the Ulhas river in his bid to kill her, the Kulkarni told the court.

The girl survived after she held on to a tree branch and remained there an entire night. She was rescued the next day after a passerby spotted her, reported PTI.

Advocate Kulkarni said the court examined 10 witnesses, including the girl and her mother, during the trial.

In the order, the judge said that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt all the charges against Saini.

"Throwing a minor girl in a river would naturally bring a prudent person to conclude that the intention must have been of killing only. It would lead to no other conclusion than that the victim was thrown into the river with an intention to kill," the court said in the order.

The judge convicted Saini on several counts under Indian Penal Code sections 307 (attempt to murder), 363 (kidnapping), 364 (Kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 507 (criminal intimidation) and sentenced him to varying terms, with the maximum being seven years, reported PTI.

The court said that since Saini has been in jail since 2016, the time already done by him can be set off against the sentence, reported PTI.

Meanwhile, a court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man and a woman to life imprisonment after finding them guilty of murdering their friend's mother in an attempt to rob her in 2014.

Kalyan court's Additional Sessions Judge R G Waghmare in his order on Monday noted that the prosecution has successfully proved all the charges against the two accused, Virendra Naidu and Ashwini Singh, both now aged 30, beyond reasonable doubt and hence they need to be convicted and sentenced.

(With inputs from PTI)