Maharashtra teacher gets life in jail for killing colleague over financial dispute; 9-year-old boy testifies

Mumbai: A sessions court in Maharashtra's Osmanabad district (now known as Dharashiv) on Wednesday sentenced a school teacher to life imprisonment for killing his colleague over a financial dispute nearly two years ago.

District and Additional Sessions Judge Vishwas Ganpat Mohite found the accused -- Dhiraj Babu Humbe -- guilty of the offence covered under IPC section 302 (murder) after relying on testimonies of multiple people, including a nine-year-old boy, presented as an eyewitness by the prosecution.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

A detailed order was not available yet.

As per case details, the accused and the victim, Shamrao Deshmukh, worked as teachers at a school in Osmanabad (Dharashiv), around 400km from Mumbai, and lived in the same locality.

Shamrao Deshmukh had borrowed money from Humbe and his failure to repay it led to a dispute between the two.

During the trial, the prosecution relied on the testimonies of Shamrao Deshmukh's sons, police, doctors and a nine-year-old eyewitness.

The child witness had testified before the court that on the day of the incident( February 21, 2023), he was playing near his house when he saw Shamrao Deshmukh falling off his motorbike after being hit hard with a stone by Humbe.

Blood was oozing out from the victim's head, he told the court.

Shamrao Deshmukh's son, Vaishnav, had told the court that a friend called him and informed his father was lying in a pool of blood near the accused's house.

Upon arriving at the spot, Vaishnav Deshmukh rushed his father to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

"My father died due to an assault by means of stone by the accused. I went in the Osmanabad city police station and recorded my complaint," he had testified.