Fenil Goyani declared guilty of Grishma Vekariya’s murder

Surat: Fenil who murdered Grishma Vekariya on 12th February in Surat has been declared guilty by the court after 69 days of trial. The final verdict of the court is being awaited now. The trial in the court got over on 6th April and 16th April was declared the date of the final verdict. However, as the defence lawyer of the case failed to appear, the day of final verdict was adjourned till 21st April. Out of the 190 witnesses in the case, statements of 105 witnesses were taken and the rest of the 85 were dropped. After the public prosecutor gave its closing statement, the further statement of the accused Fenil was taken. The final verdict from the court is being awaited today.

21 years old Grishma Nandlal Vekariya was the resident of Pasodara-Patiya locality of Surat, who was studying Bachelor of Commerce in the JZ Shah College of Commerce in Surat. Grishma used to live with her mother and brother. Her father, who is in the diamond business, lived in Nigeria. Grishma had complained about being stalked and harassed by the 18 years old Fenil Pankaj Goyani, who resided in Kapodara area of Surat. On the evening of 12th February, Fenil reached Grishma’s home with sharp weapon. After being scolded by Grishma’s brother and uncle, agitated Fenil dragged Grishma with the knife on her neck nearby and slit her throat; killing her in the presence of the local population. The video of the incident had gone viral.

The public prosecutor argued for three days in the court. While asking for severe punishment for the accused, public prosecutor argued that the crime of murder was not committed in frustration but after detailed pre planning. The knife used as the tool of the murder was purchased online. The prosecution added that is it wrong to not counter eve teasing of girls. While answering to the argument of the accused being a youth, the prosecution said that does the society deserve to have such kind of youngsters who commit crimes like murder? This will give wrong message to the society.

Zameer Shaikh and Ajay Gondaliya represented the defence side on behalf of the accused, who argued for three days in the court. It was argued that in order to make a distorted case against the accused the police prepared the charge sheet against him in just seven days so that he cannot represent his side in a proper manner. It was further argued that due the statements given by the investigation officers in the media, the narrative was built completely against the accused and thus none of the witnesses are ready to give statement in support of the accused.

Grishma’s family was visited by Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghvi who had assured them of sufficient police actions and justice. DeshGujarat