A magistrate’s court in Mapusa has committed to the Sessions Court a case in which a local businessman is accused of biting off a portion of a rival’s ear during a dispute at the town’s KTC bus stand, ruling that the gravity of the charge requires trial before a higher court.
In the order pronounced on March 2, Judicial Magistrate Jude Torex Sequeira held that the offence under Section 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, invoked in the chargesheet, is exclusively triable by a Court of Sessions.
Exercising powers under Section 209 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the Magistrate committed the case along with the accused to the Principal Sessions Court, North Goa, and remanded him to custody until the conclusion of the trial.
The accused, Sameer alias Shankar Pednekar, a resident of Khorlim, Mapusa, is currently in judicial custody.
As per the prosecution, the alleged assault occurred on December 30, 2025, at about 8.15 pm at the KTC bus stand, Mapusa, triggered by an ongoing rivalry in the bike rental business.
Police stated that Pednekar allegedly abused and threatened Nitesh Khanolkar, 43, a resident of Bastora, and assaulted him with slaps, fist blows and kicks. The chargesheet further alleged that the accused bit Khanolkar’s left ear pinna with his teeth, causing serious bodily injury.
The Mapusa police have invoked Sections 110, 118(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 352 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The accused is directed to be produced before the Principal Sessions Court, North Goa, on March 16, where the matter will now proceed for trial.
