Keenan-Reuben murder: All 4 accused found guilty, get life term

Four accused -- Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival -- were arrested on charges of murder, molestation.

Mumbai sessions court on Thursday found all four accused guilty in the infamous Keenan-Reuben murder case. The court has sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Keenan Santos, 24, and Reuben Fernandez, 29, were repeatedly stabbed outside an eatery at Amboli on October 20, 2011 when they tried to protect their women friends from a group of men. Keenan succumbed to his injuries on the same day, while Reuben died 10 days later on October 31.

Four accused -- Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival -- were arrested the next day and a fast-track court had in October framed charges against them for murder, conspiracy and molestation.

On the hearing the verdict, Keenan’s father Valerian Santos said, "I am happy with life imprisonment to the guilty. They should live every moment thinking about Keenan-Reuben."

The state government had in 2012 shifted the case to a fast-track court, but the case still dragged on for 4 years.

The case which was scheduled for hearing on May 1 was adjourned. After the verdict, Santos said, “I need a good judgement. I’ve waited long enough. I won’t ask for capital punishment but they should be given life imprisonment till death.”

Ujjwal Nikam has been appointed as the public prosecutor.

Earlier, Valerian Santos told ANI, “We have suffered a lot in these years and punishment to these boys is the only thing that will give us some relief. We know our son will not come back, but we expect his killers to get punished.”

He said the family has faith in the judiciary and they would get justice. “They should think about the victim’s family. We were given promises by the then chief minister, but everything turned out to be a farce. There is a need to change the system,” Valerian said.