Mumbai: Man sentenced to 10-year jail for throwing acid, assault on uncle over property dispute

In his complaint to the police, Rajendrasingh had said that he handled the finances and divided the money among the family members each month. He claimed that his elder brother’s son, Happy, was angry about this. The prosecution claimed that Happy expected to be given Rs 80,000 from the hotel rent and other businesses, but was miffed about getting only Rs 40,000.

On February 25, 2013, Rajendrasingh was sitting outside the dhaba in the evening when he saw Happy walk towards him. He allegedly flung a liquid from a bottle at Rajendrasingh’s face. As some of the liquid fell on his right eye, Rajendrasingh told the police that he began experiencing a burning sensation and could not see anything clearly. He said that he entered the hotel, where Happy followed him with an axe and attacked him thrice – twice on either side of his shoulders and once on his back – leaving Rajendrasingh bleeding profusely. Happy allegedly fled, while Rajendrasingh was rushed to a hospital by his family.

The police claimed that a few days before the incident, Happy had filed a complaint with the BMC alleging that his uncle had made illegal alterations on the premises near the hotel. On the day of the incident, he had gone to check the status of his complaint and on his way back had got into an argument with his uncle.

A few hours later, Happy allegedly brought an axe from a temple, where he worked as a volunteer. He returned home, took a bottle of acid used as disinfectant and went to meet his uncle.

Additional sessions judge R M Sadrani found Happy guilty under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid) of the Indian Penal Code. He has also been directed to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 to his uncle.

Among the witnesses examined by prosecutor Iqbal Solkar were the victim, his wife and the staff of the hotel, who had seen the attack and rushed the victim to the hospital.