13-yr-old's testimony gets mom's killer life in jail 11 yrs after murder in Malad highrise

Time of India

15-05-2025

Mumbai: The testimony of a girl, then aged 13, secured the conviction and life imprisonment sentence for 31-year-old
Arvind Gupta
who killed her mother
Shagufta Khan
(32) and fled with Rs 80 lakh jewellery in 2014.
Shagufta was the wife of alleged bookie Sonu Jalan.
Gupta was also found guilty of attempting to murder the girl and sentenced to six years' jail. Both sentences will run concurrently.
The deposition by
Riya Jalan Khan
detailed not only finding her mother with a slit throat when she and her then seven-year-old sister returned from school to their Malad (W) residence on Nov 11, 2014, but also Gupta's attempt to kill her as he fled the scene with Rs 80 lakh jewellery.
Critically, she identified Gupta, who worked at a mobile shop owned by Khan's friend Siraj Shaikh, as the killer.
"…it is evident that the prosecution has established that the death of Shagufta falls in the category of homicidal death and the accused is the author of the murder...prosecution has proved that the accused committed robbery by entering the house of the informant," additional sessions judge A S Salgar said.
In the 65-page order copy, the judge refuted the defence submission that Riya was tutored. "...there is an impress of truth in the evidence of the child witness...Riya stated the entire incident as mentioned in the FIR. There is no lacuna in the version of such a witness," the judge said.
Jalan was in Australia at the time of the murder.
Riya told the court that on Nov 11, 2014, her sister Jia and she went to school with their driver, Arvind Devruskar, and returned home at 3.05pm.
Upon arriving at their sixth-floor apartment at Rustomjee Riviera on Marve Road, they noticed the safety door open and the main door ajar. Entering the flat, they saw bloodstains in the hall. Jia remained near the entrance, while Riya followed the bloodstains towards her mother's bedroom.
Riya knocked and called out to her mother, but heard a man's voice asking who it was. When the man opened the door, Riya recognised him as Gupta, who frequently visited their house.
He was holding a knife and attempted to press it against her neck. Riya ran to her bedroom and locked the door from the inside.
After some time, she opened her bedroom door and saw Gupta carrying a bag and a bloodstained knife. He dropped the knife and left the flat. Riya ran to her mother's bedroom and found her lying in a pool of blood with her throat cut. There was also an injury on her chest and an empty jewellery box. Riya called her driver, father and aunt from her mother's phone.
Devruskar rushed upstairs and saw Shagufta's body. Riya told him that Jia was missing.
Devruskar found Jia with the building watchman Sunil Kamble.
Gupta was arrested on Nov 13, 2014, from Kolkata.
Public prosecutor Ratnavali Patil cited the evidence of 25 witnesses, including Riya, Sonu, Devruskar, and Kamble. Patil said the recovery of the ornaments at the accused's instance further strengthened their case. "The post-mortem report, confirmed by the medical officer's testimony, substantiated the victim's injuries, which were also proven by the prosecution. Additionally, CCTV footage served as corroborative evidence, showing the accused entering the society," he added.