‘Murder accused acted in self-defence’

The defence lawyer of Rock D’Souza (65), held for the murder of his wife Violet last week, said on Thursday that his client acted in self-defence. Advocate Sharad Raut said D’Souza was under pressure to sell off his property at the time of the crime.

Rock was arrested on July 3 after he confessed to killing Violet during an argument the previous night at their home at Sundar Nagar in Kalina. Rock was charged with murder, remanded in judicial custody and is now lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Navi Mumbai.

Mr. Raut said, “Violet attacked Rock during an argument on the evening of July 2. He had been suffering from high blood pressure and severe diabetes. His physical condition made him unstable in moments of stress. This led him to strangle her to death in self- defence.”

Mr. Raut added that Rock was not in a sound state of mind and would be applying for bail. He said, “Days before the murder, unknown persons took Rock to an isolated spot in Golden Square Society and threatened to kill him unless he sold his property.”

Senior Police Inspector Mahadeo Wavale said, “The defence can make whatever claims they want. We can not comment on the details of an ongoing investigation.”

Caedmon Carvalho, a childhood friend of Rock’s, said, “I used to meet Rock in Church, every day and he was a lovely person. Some years ago, a builder had approached him for negotiating the sale of his property, and the talks did not go quite well because Rock’s brother, Clairence D’Souza didn’t agree on the terms of the agreement. He was also given a notice of ₹20 lakh regarding some property tax, recently and was under so much stress and tension. He might have killed her in a fit of temper.”

Ganjibhai Bhanushali, who has known the D’souza family for the last 50 years, added, “It is a shock that Rock could have killed his wife. The last time I saw him was on July 4 when in the lock-up. He was crying all the time and regretted his actions, which sadly cannot be undone.”