<p>A Mumbai court on Tuesday convicted Chandrabhan Sanap for the sexual assault and murder of Esther Anuhya, a techie from Andhra Pradesh who worked here, in January last year.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We have secured the conviction under all sections,” a senior Mumbai Police officer said. <br /><br />Sanap was convicted under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC. <br /><br />Additional Sessions Judge Vrushali Joshi, who presides over a special women’s court convicted Sanap. <br /><br />She is expected to announce the quantum of sentence on Wednesday. <br />On January 5, 2014, when Esther, 23, reached the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) at Kurla, the accused pretended to be taxi driver and agreed to drop her at her Andheri hostel for Rs 300. However, when she came out of the station, Sanap told her he would drop her in his motorcycle.<br /><br />But he took her from the Eastern Express Highway to the service road and then the bushes in Bhandup, where he “forced upon her”. <br /><br />When she resisted, he killed her and left the body there.<br /> On January 16, a half-charred body of Esther was spotted inside the ravines near Kanjur Marg area in the suburbs of central Mumbai.<br /><br />Esther worked with the Tata Consultancy Services as an assistant systems engineer. <br />She was a native of Machilipatnam in AP and had returned to Mumbai after a visit to her hometown.<br /><br />On May 27, 2014, a 542-page charge sheet was filed by the Crime Branch-CID, including statements of 76 witnesses. A watertight case was made against the 29-year-old Sanap. He was charged on eight counts including murder, rape and destruction of evidence. <br /><br />During the course of the trial, Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare examined 39 witnesses in the case, including the victim’s father, Jonathan Prasad.<br /><br />Defence advocate Prakash Salsingekar examined four witnesses, including media personnel, in an attempt to prove that Sanap’s identification parade was conducted after his pictures were already published. <br /><br />Among the crucial evidence were Sanap’s photos captured by the CCTV cameras at the LTT. Besides, DNA samples collected from a trolley in his possession matched with that of the victim. <br /><br />A native of Nashik, Sanap worked as a station porter at the LTT before driving tourist cars. A history sheeter with a past of excessive drinking, Sanap had around a dozen cases of theft, robbery and house breaking against him.<br /></p>
<p>A Mumbai court on Tuesday convicted Chandrabhan Sanap for the sexual assault and murder of Esther Anuhya, a techie from Andhra Pradesh who worked here, in January last year.<br /><br /></p>.<p>“We have secured the conviction under all sections,” a senior Mumbai Police officer said. <br /><br />Sanap was convicted under sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the IPC. <br /><br />Additional Sessions Judge Vrushali Joshi, who presides over a special women’s court convicted Sanap. <br /><br />She is expected to announce the quantum of sentence on Wednesday. <br />On January 5, 2014, when Esther, 23, reached the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) at Kurla, the accused pretended to be taxi driver and agreed to drop her at her Andheri hostel for Rs 300. However, when she came out of the station, Sanap told her he would drop her in his motorcycle.<br /><br />But he took her from the Eastern Express Highway to the service road and then the bushes in Bhandup, where he “forced upon her”. <br /><br />When she resisted, he killed her and left the body there.<br /> On January 16, a half-charred body of Esther was spotted inside the ravines near Kanjur Marg area in the suburbs of central Mumbai.<br /><br />Esther worked with the Tata Consultancy Services as an assistant systems engineer. <br />She was a native of Machilipatnam in AP and had returned to Mumbai after a visit to her hometown.<br /><br />On May 27, 2014, a 542-page charge sheet was filed by the Crime Branch-CID, including statements of 76 witnesses. A watertight case was made against the 29-year-old Sanap. He was charged on eight counts including murder, rape and destruction of evidence. <br /><br />During the course of the trial, Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare examined 39 witnesses in the case, including the victim’s father, Jonathan Prasad.<br /><br />Defence advocate Prakash Salsingekar examined four witnesses, including media personnel, in an attempt to prove that Sanap’s identification parade was conducted after his pictures were already published. <br /><br />Among the crucial evidence were Sanap’s photos captured by the CCTV cameras at the LTT. Besides, DNA samples collected from a trolley in his possession matched with that of the victim. <br /><br />A native of Nashik, Sanap worked as a station porter at the LTT before driving tourist cars. A history sheeter with a past of excessive drinking, Sanap had around a dozen cases of theft, robbery and house breaking against him.<br /></p>
