A Mumbai sessions court has held Bollywood actor Salman Khan guilty in the 2002 hit-and-run case which involved death of one person and injury of four.
Many witnesses had testified several times before the court.
Ravindra Patil was one eyewitness whose version could’ve cracked the case wide open. But a look at his story tells us that the system only failed him at every level, and those who got crushed by Salman’s Land Cruiser in 2002.
Ravindra Patil - Failed by the System, Left to Die
- A 1998 batch constable, Patil was from the protection unit of Mumbai Police, assigned as a bodyguard to Salman Khan following the actor’s complaint of threats from the underworld.
- Patil was with Salman Khan in the early hours of Sept 28, 2002 when the accident happened.
- Reports say, Patil had called up the police immediately after the accident to lodge a complaint. In his statement, Patil mentioned that he had warned an intoxicated Salman to drive slow. During the trial, Patil stood by his statement.
- He was a crucial prosecution witness. But later in the trial, Patil had gone missing. He was arrested in March 2006 from a hotel in Mahabaleswar after the court issued a warrant for not appearing as a witness. He was then jailed.
- Reports also say, he was under great pressure to change his statement. Patil had apparently gone into hiding to avoid meeting Salman Khan’s lawyers. In November 2006, he was sacked from police service.
- In 2007, after his release from jail, Patil was discovered in Sewri Municipal hospital. He was suffering from tuberculosis and was abandoned by his family.
- Patil died in October 2007.
Here’s a 2007 NDTV report on Ravindra Patil before he died.
The Quint Asks
Why were lawyers allowed to intimidate a witness so crucial to the case?
Why did the prosecution do so little to keep track of the whereabouts and even health of the only person present at the crime scene apart from the accused?
One can only wonder, why the system paved the way for such a travesty of justice.
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