V/D/C NEWS:
Six days after finding two individuals guilty in the "horrific" case of an acid attack on a 20-year-old law student in Nowshera, Srinagar on December 11, 2014, a local court has sentenced them to life imprisonment. The Principal District and Sessions Court in Srinagar, presided over by Jawad Ahmed, delivered the verdict in a packed courtroom.
Following the arguments presented by Special Public Prosecutor AA Teeli, who advocated for the maximum penalty of life imprisonment, and the defense counsel representing the duo seeking a reduced sentence of ten years due to mitigating circumstances, the court reserved the verdict over the weekend.
Last Thursday, the court declared Irshad Ahmad Wani, also known as Sunny Wazirbagh Srinagar, and Muhammad Umar Noor of Bemina Srinagar guilty of violating Sections 326-A (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid), 201 (destroying evidence), and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the RPC.
The court's verdict stated, "The prosecution has successfully proven the charges against the accused beyond any reasonable doubt. Thus, the accused, Irshad Amin Wani and Mohammed Umer Noor (Accused No.2), are found guilty of the offenses punishable under Sections 326-A, 201 & 120-B RPC." The court emphasized that there was no credible evidence from the defense to support the possibility of the accused being falsely implicated.
The court went on to say, "The established facts, circumstances, and evidence form a consistent and complete chain that strongly suggests that accused No.2 carried out the heinous act of throwing acid on the victim as part of the conspiracy planned by accused No.1 with accused No.2. The evidence and circumstances provide no reasonable basis to conclude that the accused are innocent."
It is worth noting that on December 11, 2014, a young law student suffered severe injuries in an acid attack near Nowshera, on the outskirts of the city, while she was en route to her college.
Given the seriousness of the offense, which had a significant impact across the region, a Special Investigation Team was formed by then IGP Kashmir A.G. Mir. This team, led by then SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar and supervised by then SP Rayees Mohammad Bhat (now DIG South Kashmir), apprehended the two accused individuals within two weeks.
