Delhi Court frames murder charges against Olympian Sushil Kumar, others for 2021 killing of wrestler

A Delhi court on Wednesday framed charges of murder and other offences against Olympian wrestler Sushil Kumar for last year's killing of another wrestler at Chhatrasal Stadium in the national capital [State v. Sushil Kumar, Ors]..Additional Sessions Judge Shivaji Anand referred to witness statements to observe that Kumar was on the lookout for the victim, Sagar Dhankhad, on the day of the incident, and even announced that he would kill him. Besides, the deceased’s post-mortem report prompted the court to note that the victim had died of cerebral damage as a result of injury from a blunt object. “The statements of the victims mentioned the fact that during the whole time he (Kumar) had been telling the victims that he would kill Sagar Dhankhad. The victim Sagar Dhankhad, as per statements of the victims was beaten for 30-40 minutes. During the arguments, the mobile clip was also played wherein Sagar Dhankhad can be seen writhing on the ground while he was profusely bleeding at legs and other parts of the body,” the order on charge underlined..According to the prosecution, Kumar and other accused took the deceased to the stadium at gunpoint and beat him up mercilessly. Kumar and others were booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), among other charges.The special public prosecutor argued that the case was covered under clause of Section 300 (murder) as the accused persons had caused severe bodily injuries to the deceased, resulting in his death. He submitted that Dhankhad’s medical reports reflected infliction of multiple wounds on various body parts without any sympathy.Counsel appearing for the victim’s father pointed out a “clear motive” on Kumar’s behalf to “eliminate” Dhankhad, for he was a rising star who could in all possibility “dethrone the supremacy” of the veteran wrestler. .In Kumar’s defense, his counsel argued that he had no intention to cause murder, as in the video placed on record by the prosecution, he could be heard telling others not to cause injuries on the victim's head. It was also argued that going by the prosecution’s theory, the accused persons were in possession of three firearms.“If accused persons were having firearm weapons with them, they could have caused the death of the victims then and there. It is submitted that it is so as there was no intention to cause murder but to cause only some injuries,” argued the counsel.The court, however, relied on witness statements, the location of the accused persons, medical evidence and other evidence in the chargesheet to note that it was a “strong case of Section 302 IPC for causing murder of Sagar Dhankhad”.As a result, charges were ordered to be framed against the accused persons - Kumar, Prince, Ajay Kumar, Mohit, Manjeet, Gulab, Bhupender, Rohit Malik, Bijender, Anirudh Dahiya, Subhash, Gaurav Loura, Surjeet Grewal, Anil Dhiman, Praveen Dabas, Praveen, Rahul and Parveen Dabas under Section 302 (murder) read with Section 34 (common intention) of the IPC. The court also framed attempt to murder charges for injuries inflicted on other victims..Special Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Shrivastava represented the State.Advocates RS Malik, Sahil Malik, Swati Rathi, Rohit Boora, Sumeet Shokeen, Pawash Piyush, Abhimanyu Singh, Ankur Yadav and Rajiv Raj Ranjan appeared for the accused persons. .[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.