Mumbai: Noting that the rising incidents of attacks on police personnel and violence against girls arising from one-sided love are deeply concerning, over four years after a brutal knife attack on a woman and an intervening police constable, a sessions court on Thursday convicted and sentenced a 36-year-old salesman to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for attempt to murder. The accused, Anil Babar, was upset as the woman had rejected his marriage proposal. “Such acts reflect a dangerous disregard for law, consent and human dignity. Strict legal action, timely intervention and greater awareness are essential to prevent such incidents and ensure the safety of both police personnel and women,” additional sessions judge RS Aradhye said.The judge also sentenced Babar to three years for stalking, five years for voluntarily causing grievous hurt to a public servant, one year for assaulting a public servant, two years for criminal intimidation and six months’ simple imprisonment under the Maharashtra Police Act. All sentences will run concurrently. “Even if for the sake of argument, it is accepted that there is a love affair between the victim and the accused, but that does not give any right or authority to the accused to assault the victim or any other person for the fulfillment of his proposal of marriage,” the judge said.The prosecution said Babar and the woman lived in the same locality at Salt Pan Road in Wadala East. According to the court record, Babar had developed “one-sided affection” for the woman and repeatedly proposed marriage, but the woman rejected the proposal. The crime occurred on the morning of May 4, 2022. Babar had been stalking the victim and continuously pressuring the victim for marriage despite previous police complaints. Around 10.30 am, the woman left home for work but forgot her mobile phone. Her mother followed to hand on the phone and saw Babar allegedly trying to stop the woman near Barkat Ali Bus Stop and Pooja Junction. When the victim refused to speak with the attacker, Babar pulled out a knife concealed in a waistband and inflicted severe stab wounds to the victim’s abdomen, back and arm. Police Constable Mayur Patil, who was on duty nearby, rushed to the scene to stop the assault. During the rescue attempt, Babar attacked the constable, severely slashing the officer’s hand. Other police personnel eventually disarmed Babar by striking the attacker’s hand with a wooden stick. Both the victim and the constable required prolonged hospitalisation and surgery.The woman was taken to KEM Hospital, where she remained admitted for 10 days and underwent surgery. Patil was treated at Wockhardt Hospital.The court relied on the deposition of the woman, her mother, the injured police constable, medical officers and panch witnesses.On the charge of attempt to murder, the court observed that the absence of fatal injury was not decisive. “The essentials are knowledge and intention of accused while committing the crime and if death were caused by that specific act,” the judge said.The court also held that the attack on the police constable was proved through the bandobast duty order and medical evidence. The judgement said the order showing Patil’s deployment at Kadaria Trust Mosque, Barkat Ali Nagar, Pooja Junction, was “more than sufficient for holding that…Patil was, on the day of incident at the relevant time discharging his duty as a public servant.”Before sentencing, public prosecutor Ranjana Budhwant sought maximum punishment, saying the offence arose out of a one-sided love affair and was also directed against police machinery.“This is the grave offence which the accused committed in the depression of failure in a love affair and brutally attacked the victim, as well as not leaving the Police Constable who tried to intervene in the matter. Therefore, taking into consideration the above-said facts and mitigating circumstances against the accused, I am of the view that in such a matter, if a lenient view is taken, it goes wrong message in society so the severe punishment provided for each offence will meet the ends of justice,” the judge said.Babar has been in custody since the day of the incident. The court directed that set-off be given for the period already spent in jail.
