Mumbai, Feb. 11 (PTI): Quashing an acquittal in a murder case, Bombay High Court has held that just because a key witness is a sex worker, her testimony cannot be discarded.

A lower court had held that the witness, being a sex worker, could not be said to be an “honest woman”, and because the prosecution’s case hinged on her testimony, it was unacceptable.

The division bench of Justices D.G. Deshpande and S.R. Sathe, while convicting a person called Ayub Shaikh, held that since the lady was the eyewitness on record and there was nothing to taint her testimony, it could be relied upon along with other evidence.

Suraiyya — the sex worker — was residing with the deceased Salim Shaikh. She saw Ayub attack him with a knife on September 26, 1987, after which he fled. Salim later succumbed to his injuries.

The high court held that the FIR was not challenged and medical reports testify against the accused, which were enough to convict him.