A sessions court on Thursday convicted Bollywood actor Laila Khan’s stepfather Parvez Tak on the charges of murdering Khan and five of her family members.
This came thirteen years after the Bollywood actor and five of her family members, including her mother and her siblings, went missing.
The quantum of punishment will be decided by the court on May 14, following which the decision regarding his sentence will be taken, an Indian Express report said.
Another accused who is also involved in the case is still on the run.
Laila Khan Murder Case
Back in 2011, Khan, who had acted in few films, including one opposite actor Rajesh Khanna in 2008, went missing, along with her mother Shelina Patel and four of her siblings. Following their disappearance, Khan’s father Nadir Patel approached to police for investigation.
After months of probe, varying theories about their disappearance came up. An investigation also began into the family’s Igatpuri farmhouse near Nashik that was partly damaged in a fire.
The police, in one of the first clues to resolving the case, discovered that the mobile records of the actress last traced her to be in Nashik in February 2011, before she went missing. The cops soon suspected Tak’s involvement in the case after a vehicle of the family was found in Jammu and Kashmir, from where Tak belongs.
As per police, Tak is Khan’s stepfather—her mother Shelina’s third husband. The police officials claimed that Tak first killed Shelina following an argument over property at the Igatpuri bungalow. After that he allegedly killed Khan, her elder sister Amina, twin siblings Zara and Imran and cousin Reshma as they had witnessed Shelina’s murder.
Police Investigation & Court Observations
The accused, Tak, himself took the police to the remains of the deceased, which he had buried in a pit at the farmhouse.
Around 40 witnesses were examined during the trial, which included Shelina’s two ex-husbands. The accused, Tak also claimed that he was falsely incriminated and that there were many fallacies in the police investigation, which even included damaging the recovery of the skeletal remains of the deceased.
The court will make the detailed reasoning behind it’s decision available after it pronounces the sentence against Tak.
The prosecution and defence on the quantum of punishment will be heard by the court on May 14. The prosecution was chaired by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam till the court reserved the case for judgment last month, the Express report stated.
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