Surat Court Death Penalty Bechar Kakadiya Habitual Acid Attacker Murder

Previously convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for it, a 55-year-old man was on Thursday awarded the death penalty for the murder of a 23-year-old man, who was attacked with concentrated acid and then hacked to death, over a financial dispute, police officials said.

The judgment was given by the Surat district additional sessions court judge J L Shrimali.

In 2000, Bechar Kakadiya, a resident of Mota Varachha in Surat, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Surat district court for an acid attack on his brother-in-law Shantilal Patel, causing his death.

In 2004, when he was out on parole, he attacked his wife and another brother-in-law, Dhansukh Patel, in a similar manner, severely injuring them. Both of them survived an acid attack. He was then arrested by Katargam police. After the case trial, he was convicted for three years.

Sources in the department said Kakadiya’s mercy petition in 2010 was accepted, and he was released in 2013 after spending ten years in the Surat jail.

Sometime later, Kakadiya invested Rs 15 lakh in a business partnership with another former fellow jail inmate Kirti Doshi. The dispute between them arose when Kakadiya wanted to withdraw his investment. Pandesara police officials said Kakadiya then met Yash Doshi (23) in Pandesara GIDC, and had a heated exchange with him. He attacked Yash with acid, and when the latter tried to escape, Kakadiya chased him and inflicted repeated blows on him with a sharp weapon (cutter). The incident reportedly took place on March 28, 2019.

A complaint in connection with the murder was registered at the Pandesara police station. Kakadiya was booked under IPC sections 302 (Murder) and 326 (a, b) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by acid), and arrested the next day. Since then, Kakadiya has remained in judicial custody at the Surat Central Jail in Lajpore.

The police charge sheet was filed with 60 pieces of documentary evidence and 54 witnesses, of whom 33 testified.

While Kakadiya was convicted last month on May 30, the punishment was announced on Thursday.

Assistant public prosecutor Tejash Pancholi had sought capital punishment. Pancholi, in his arguments, stated that Kakadiya was a “habitual” offender of acid attack.

The Thursday order stated: “Convict Becharbhai Kakadiya is punished with capital punishment (to be hanged till death) under IPC 302, and a fine of Rs. 50,000. Under IPC 326(A), he is punished with life imprisonment.”

In the order, the court observed: “It is found that the accused has committed a serious and anti-social crime, and keeping in mind all the aspects so that such anti-social crimes are not repeated, and that there is no possibility of his improvement, the accused should be appropriately punished.

Considering the above facts on record, the criminal behaviour of the accused and the fact that the present crime has been committed by the accused himself. It is found in the interest of justice to punish the accused as appropriate, reasonable, and fair as prescribed in the law.”

Talking to The Indian Express, the additional public prosecutor said, “Seeing [Kakadiya’s] behaviour and his history of acid attacks on three persons…the accused is a threat to society. We had requested the court to punish him with capital punishment by hanging.”

Defence counsel K B Bakshi did not respond to multiple calls.