Palanpur: A sessions court in Modasa on Thursday sentenced a 35-year-old man to life imprisonment for killing his live-in partner by striking her on the head with an iron hammer in Aug 2024.The court of Justice RR Chaudhary convicted Jigneshgiri Goswami of murder and also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000.According to the prosecution, Sonal Goswami and the accused had been living together in a relationship for about two years. However, they had been having frequent disputes in the seven months preceding the incident.On Aug 26, 2024, Sonal went to Priya Motors garage in the Riddhi Siddhi Complex near Modasa Pallet Chowkdi, where she and the accused had a bitter argument. Jigneshgiri flew into a rage and attacked her with an iron hammer on the head. She sustained severe head injuries and was taken to a hospital, where she died.The prosecution faced a major challenge as eight witnesses, including the complainant, who is the victim’s brother, his sister and brother-in-law, and four other witnesses, turned hostile during the trial.The complainant, Vaibhavgiri Goswami, did not support the allegations in his police complaint, while his sister and brother-in-law backed the defence version that a hammer may have accidentally fallen on Sonal.However, the court relied on medical evidence, including the postmortem findings of multiple skull fractures and internal bleeding, and circumstantial evidence, and rejected the accidental-injury theory as unsubstantiated.The court noted that the postmortem revealed that death was caused by cardiorespiratory arrest due to haemorrhagic shock and head injuries resulting from forceful blows to the head with a hammer. “Given the gravity of the offence, the court held that no leniency could be shown to the accused,” the court said.
