Accused sought sexual favours from MBBS student: Charge sheet

Mitthu Singh and Sadichha Sane in a selfie taken at Bandstand

The Mumbai crime branch's Unit 09 has submitted a charge sheet in connection with the murder of 21-year-old MBBS student Sadichha Sane, stating that the motive behind her killing was the denial of sexual favours that the accused, Mitthu Singh, expected from her. According to the investigation, Sane spent some time with Singh at Bandra Bandstand and they became friendly, but when she refused his advances, he pushed her on the rocks, causing her to fall and sustain severe head injuries. Instead of taking her to the hospital, the accused allegedly dumped her body into the sea.

The crime branch has submitted a 1,750-page charge sheet with approximately 100 witnesses' statements, of which four crucial ones were recorded under Section 164 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which deals with the recording of confessions and statements.

The case relies on circumstantial evidence as the body of the deceased could not be found despite exhaustive efforts by the police. The "last seen theory" under Section 106 of the Indian Evidence Act is being utilised, placing the burden of proving the innocence on the accused. mid-day was the first to report on this development. It has been established that Sane was not kidnapped, and consequently, the crime branch has removed Sections 364(a) (kidnapping for ransom) and 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) from the charge sheet.

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The woman had gone to Bandstand on her own accord and turned off her phone. There, she met the accused and became friendly with him, and they even took selfies together. Singh and his childhood friend Abdul Jabbar Ansari have been charged with murder and destruction of evidence under IPC Sections 302 and 201, respectively. According to the crime branch, the deceased had food from Singh's eatery, which was served to her at the rocks where both talked to each other. Singh went back to her and later sat with her for some time. The duo did not know each other but before this Sane had visited Bandstand and both had chatted briefly so they were somewhat familiar, cops said. That's the reason why the student trusted him and sat with him till late, the police have claimed.

According to the accused's confessional statement, after taking the selfie, the woman touched his beard softly and pulled his cheek, and he attempted to get physical with her, but she refused and both had heated arguments. "This triggered him, and he pushed her, causing her to fall and sustain a head injury. He ran away, but returned later to find Sane breathing but unconscious. Instead of helping her, he took her into the sea using a life jacket and buoy and dumped her body there," an officer said. The charge sheet also states that Singh, who was a lifeguard, knew Bandstand inside out and was aware of areas where drowned bodies would not surface. He dumped Sane's body in one such location, as per his confession to the police.

Singh also revealed that three women had drifted off into the sea in 2016. While two women were rescued, the body of the third woman was never found as she had drowned at the same location where he dumped Sane's body. The police verified this information with the family of the girl who died in 2016 and found that her body was still not located. "Based on his revelations, other pieces of evidence were collected, and we have a strong case for conviction," said a senior officer of the Mumbai crime branch. According to officers, the evidence suggests that the accused was with the victim until 3.45 am on November 29, 2021, after which she went missing. The charge sheet presents several strong circumstantial pieces of evidence against the accused.

Singh clicked two selfies with the deceased on November 29, 2021, around 2.35 am, while they were sitting on rocks at Bandstand. The victim appeared comfortable in the pictures, which weakens the kidnapping theory. Singh claimed that he left after the selfie was taken, as she said her friend was coming to meet her. However, CCTV footage does not show anyone entering the area where the accused and Sane were sitting on the rocks. Ansari, the other accused, slept in Singh's kitchen despite his house being just 50 metres away.

The next morning, Singh went back to the area near the rocks where they had taken the selfies and clicked a picture of the surroundings. The police suspect that he was checking to see if any of the victim's belongings were left behind or if her body had washed ashore. Two days after the incident, a body was found at Bandstand, which made both accused nervous. Witnesses in the case have revealed that the accused were discussing what would happen if the body turned out to be the victim's. The body turned out to be of a man.

There are also witnesses who overheard the accused having conversations about sex with the deceased. Ansari allegedly asked Singh if he had sex with the victim or if he could join them and bring some bedsheets. Singh was awake all night, and his phone was active. He called Sane's number 11 times, despite knowing that her phone was on airplane mode. He also sent her a request on Instagram to create an alibi that he was also searching for her after she disappeared.

The accused sold his newly purchased iPhone 13 in 2021, despite the Bandra police warning him not to do anything with the phone. The phone was later recovered, but nothing conclusive was found on it except for the pictures of the Bandstand that the accused had taken the day of the alleged murder."

Singh had gone to different spots at Bandstand, including the area where he was last seen with the victim and took pictures. "He said that he usually took pictures of the sunrise, but no pictures from any other day were found, which raised suspicions," an officer privy to the information said. Singh was also seen on a blurry CCTV footage heading towards the sea with a lifejacket and buoy, which he could not explain. The identity card of Sane which was found at the Bandstand was destroyed on Singh's instruction, cops said.

"Strong circumstantial evidence has surfaced during the course of the investigation, and our efforts to locate the body will continue. Based on these circumstances, we believe that this is a fit case to secure a conviction before the court," the officer said. The charge sheet also states that the authorities took DNA samples from the body of an unknown woman found by the Trombay police in December 2022. The samples were sent to forensic experts to see if they match the DNA of Sane's father. The report is still awaited.

The case

On November 29, 2021, Sane, a third-year MBBS student of Grant Medical College, left her home in Virar at 9.30 am to appear for her preliminary exam at Byculla. Instead of taking her exams, she got off at Andheri and boarded another train, getting down at Bandra at 12.46 pm. She then took an auto and reached Bandstand around 1.10 pm. After leaving home, she had spoken to one of her relatives. But there was no activity on her phone since, as she had turned it off or put it on airplane mode.

Around 5.30 pm, one of her classmates, Sadaf, called her family, informing them that Sane had not appeared for her exams, and her phone was switched off. The family then approached the Boisar police and filed a missing complaint, and the Bandra police were informed. Her father came to Bandstand with the local cops around 2 am, but they returned as he said his daughter would not go to a place where couples get intimate in public. However, Sane was there at that time, and she took a selfie around 2.35 am. If the local cops had searched the area, she would have been alive today.

Initially, a kidnapping case was filed, and the Bandra police handled the case for 18 days but found nothing. Singh's family alleged custodial torture and filed a case with the Human Rights Commission. The case was later transferred to Unit 09 of the crime branch, and they conducted narco-analysis on Singh, but the report remained inconclusive. On January 12, Singh was arrested by Unit 09 for allegedly killing Sane, and on January 13, Ansari was also held for helping him to destroy evidence.