Keenan-Reuben Murder Case: Bombay HC Upholds Prime Accused's Conviction, Reduces Life Term To 20 Years; Two Acquitted

Mumbai: Observing that the 2011 killings of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandes were “premeditated murders of two young persons”, the Bombay High Court has upheld the murder conviction of prime accused Jitendra Fakirchand Rana, who attacked Keenan in a “most gruesome manner”, but reduced his sentence from imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life to 20 years without statutory remission.

The court acquitted two co-accused of murder, holding that inconsistent eyewitness accounts made it unsafe to conclude that they had assaulted the deceased or shared a common intention to kill them.

High Court Partly Allows Appeals Against 2016 Conviction

In its 184-page judgment, a bench of Justices MS Karnik and Sandesh Patil partly allowed appeals filed by the convicts against their conviction by a special court in May 2016.

The bench concurred with the trial court's finding that Rana had murdered Keenan Santos (24), but disagreed with its conclusion that Sunil Omprakash Both alias Chota and Deepak Ishwar Piwal had shared a common intention to murder Santos and Reuben Fernandes (29). Rana's convictions for other offences, including molestation, were also upheld.

Eyewitness Accounts Against Two Accused Found Inconsistent

The judges noted that eyewitness accounts of Both and Piwal's alleged roles in assaulting the deceased were inconsistent. “It would be too unsafe to hold that accused Nos. 3 and 4 had assaulted deceased Keenan and Ruben,” the bench observed.

“The prosecution, however, has proved that deceased Keenan was assaulted by accused No. 1 in the most gruesome manner,” it said.

One-Year Sentence For Assaulting Two Others Upheld

The court held that the prosecution had failed to establish common intention under Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code and consequently acquitted Both and Piwal of murder under Section 302 read with Section 34. However, it upheld their conviction under Section 323 for assaulting Avinash Bali and Benjamin Fernandes, Reuben's brother, and retained their one-year sentence.

On Rana's sentence, the High Court held that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to impose imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. Considering that Rana was 25 at the time of the offence and was not a habitual offender, the bench modified his sentence to 20 years' rigorous imprisonment without statutory remission.

Court Notes Brutality Of Attack On Keenan Santos

The judges underlined the brutality of the attack, noting that Keenan's intestines had protruded from his body and had to be held together with a towel. He died within 10 to 15 minutes of being taken to Kokilaben Hospital.

The incident took place on October 20, 2011, when Keenan, Reuben, Benjamin, Avinash and three women friends went to Amboli Bar and Kitchen on Caesar Road in Andheri West to watch an India-England cricket match. On their way back, one of the women was allegedly molested and subjected to obscene remarks by a group of men.

When Keenan and Reuben confronted the group, a scuffle broke out. According to the prosecution, the accused left the spot but returned after 10 to 15 minutes armed with knives, a cricket stump and a bamboo stick and attacked the group.

The fourth accused, Satish Nafeshing Dulgaj, died in custody while the appeals were pending. Rana's convictions for other offences, including molestation, were also upheld.

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