Keenan-Reuben murder: Mumbai court finds 4 guilty, hands them life terms

Mumbai, May 5

A sessions court in Mumbai sentenced four people to life imprisonment for having murdered two men who had been trying to stop them from harassing their women friends in 2011 after it found them guilty on Thursday.

Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulgaj and Dipak Tival had attacked Keenan Santos, 24, and his friend Rueben Fernandes, 29, on the night of October 20, 2011, when the two men tried to stop them from harassing their female friends outside a restaurant in Andheri.

"However, this is just the beginning...The battle is not over, they might appeal in the higher courts and we have to wait," Santos told media-persons shortly after the verdict.

Former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan expressed happiness that "justice has been done in the case" and sought more stringent action in such cases involving crimes against women.

The incident occurred outside the Amboli Bar & Kitchen that Keenan, Rueben and their two female friends had stepped out after dinner.

As they chatted outside the restaurant, Rana began molesting one of the two women. Keenan and Reuben objected to it.

Rana threatened them and left the place, returning a short while later with three other friends armed with sticks and choppers.

They brutally attacked both Keenan and Reuben as the horrified women cried for help.

A seriously injured Keenan succumbed to his injuries a few hours later while Reuben died after nearly a fortnight later. — Agencies