The prosecution began its final arguments in the molestation-cum-murder case of 25-year-old lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam began his arguments by saying that accused Sajjad Ahmad Mughal alias Sajjad Pathan (22) was a shrewd man. Also, the condition in which the deceased was found made it amply clear that she had to put up a fight to protect herself, said Nikam.
"The victim's undergarments were torn, there was blood all over the crime spot. She struggled a lot to protect her modesty," Nikam argued. He further claimed that Pathan had come prepared to first rape Purkayastha and then kill her.
On August 9, 2012, Purkayastha was found with her throat slit at her rented 16th floor apartment in the B Wing of Himalayan Heights in Wadala.
According to the prosecution, Pathan, a security guard, had been eyeing Purkayastha for some time. On the fateful night, under the pretext of fixing an electric fuse, he allegedly entered her house, stole a spare key lying on the kitchen platform and later at night entered the house and attacked Purkayastha with a knife. Purkayastha was severely injured with a cut on her lip and several serious injuries on her chest and hands.
Pathan is facing trial for trespassing, molestation and murder charge.
Nikam also based his arguments on two extra-judicial confessions allegedly made by Pathan before two of his friends, whom he allegedly informed about the crime he had committed.
Purkayastha's live-in partner Avik Sengupta was out at work and was the first to have discovered her body in a pool of blood.
Sengupta too died last November after prolonged illness. A few months before his death, Sengupta had deposed before the court, narrating several instances where Purkayastha had complained to him about Pathan.
Purkayastha's IAS father Atanu Purkayastha was also present in the court on Monday.
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