Brothers convicted in separate cases of violence against parents in Thane

THANE: In a rare coincidence, the Thane District Court convicted two real brothers from the same family in separate cases of violence against their own parents. While one was convicted and sentenced to life for murdering his mother, his elder brother was convicted for the assault of his uncle but acquitted in his father's murder case.

Principal District and Sessions Judge S.B. Agrawal delivered both verdicts on 12 September, perhaps a first in the district’s judicial history that has left legal circles stunned. The younger brother, Vishal Arun Alzende, 28, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 for the brutal murder of his mother, Urmila Arun Alzende, on 19 July 2021. The court found him guilty under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The prosecution revealed the shocking crime stemmed from a petty dispute over just Rs 20 for rickshaw fare. The victim suffered over 50 stab wounds inflicted with a screwdriver, according to medical evidence presented in court.Key witness Chaitali Alzende, the accused’s sister-in-law, provided crucial eyewitness testimony of the gruesome act. Judge Agrawal rejected the defence’s plea of mental instability, stating that nothing in the cross-examination suggested the accused was incapable of understanding his actions.

The court concluded it was “a cold-blooded murder committed by the accused of his mother by inflicting several blows on her neck and chest with a screwdriver.”In the second case, Vishnu Arun Alzende, 37, was acquitted of murdering his father, Arun Baliram Alzende, but was convicted under Section 324 of the IPC for assaulting his grandmother and uncle with a dangerous weapon during the intervening night of 30-31 August 2016. Vishnu received a one-year rigorous imprisonment sentence and was ordered to pay a Rs 25,000 fine, with a portion to be paid as compensation to the assault victims. The acquittal on the murder charge was due to a lack of corroborating evidence.While Vishnu’s confession led police to discover his father’s body, Judge Agrawal ruled the confession inadmissible under Section 25 of the Evidence Act. “The accused was in constructive custody of police at the relevant time, and although discovery of the body at his instance may be admissible in evidence, the same cannot be extended to the confession,” the judgment stated. The court found the testimony of the surviving victims credible, which led to the assault conviction.Defence advocates Sagar Kolhe and Sanjay Gaikwad appeared for the brothers in their respective cases. The simultaneous verdicts delivered by the same judge represent a dark milestone, said Adv Kolhe.