The Bombay High Court on Thursday reduced the sentence awarded to Jitendra Rana, the key convict in the 2011 Keenan-Reuben murder case, from life imprisonment to 20 years in jail [Jitendra Rana @ Chaina v. State].

A bench of Justices MS Karnik and Sandesh Patil also acquitted two other convicts Sunil Omprakash and Deepak Ishwar of murder charge, while maintaining their conviction for other charges like molestation.

The Court delivered the verdict on the appeals filed by the three against a special court verdict.

One of the convicts, Satish Nafeshing Dulgaj had died during the pendency of the appeal.

A detailed copy of the order is awaited.

The four men were convicted for the 2011 murders of Keenan Santos and Reuben Fernandez in Mumbai’s Andheri area.

A special women’s court in 2016 sentenced them to life imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives

The incident took place on October 20, 2011 and it sparked widespread outrage.

Keenan (24), Reuben (29) and five others were leaving a restaurant in Andheri around 10:30 pm when the accused made lewd comments and inappropriately touched one of their female friends.

After Keenan confronted them, the men left the spot but warned they would return.

Within 15 minutes, they returned armed with knives stolen from a coconut shop. In the ensuing altercation, Keenan was stabbed multiple times in the stomach and died the same night.

Reuben, who was also attacked, succumbed to his injuries on October 31, 2011.

During the 2016 conviction, the trial court found four guilty of murder, with two additionally convicted of molestation.

At the time, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had stated that the young men had lost their lives to a heinous crime while protecting their friends from men who treated women as private property.