Sumer’s speeding car hit 58-year-old jogger Rajalakshmi Vijay Ramakrishnan on Sunday morning at Worli Sea Face. The impact was so severe that Rajalakshmi was flung several feet away and was killed on the spot. The accused was on his way to drop his friends at Shivaji Park after partying with them the whole night.
MUMBAI: The Dadar metropolitan magistrate court on Monday remanded 23-year-old Sumer Dharmesh Merchant to police custody till March 22 after the Worli police informed the court that his friends told them that he had been drinking the night before.
Sumer’s speeding car hit 58-year-old jogger Rajalakshmi Vijay Ramakrishnan on Sunday morning at Worli Sea Face. The impact was so severe that Rajalakshmi was flung several feet away and was killed on the spot. The accused was on his way to drop his friends at Shivaji Park after partying with them the whole night.
The Worli police produced Merchant, a Tardeo resident, before metropolitan magistrate J P Shirale and sought his police custody. Arguing for the police, public prosecutor Santosh Gadhave informed the court that Merchant’s friends, who were made witnesses, had in their statements revealed that they had partied the whole night with the accused, who consumed alcohol. “We are trying to ascertain what he had taken,” said Gadhave. However, the accused told the police that he had not drunk any liquor after 8 pm.
Gadhave said the police had already applied Section 304 (II) of the Indian Penal Code – culpable homicide not amounting to murder, which carries a life imprisonment penalty. “Merchant knew his negligent act could result in somebody’s death, but despite that, he drove the car rashly,” Gadhave told the court.
The public prosecutor said the victim worked with a multinational company, and the police also wanted to ascertain if there was any past rivalry between the accused and the victim or if the accused was paid by anybody to carry out the act. He added that the vehicle was going at such high speed that the woman was flung far away.
Gadhave told the court that they were waiting for the chemical analysis report and had taken blood samples of the accused to ascertain if he was under the influence of alcohol. “We have also asked for CCTV footage to check his car speed,” he said.