Pune: 24-year-old man gets death penalty for rape, murder of minor girl

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Pune Sessions Court on Friday sentenced a 24-year-old man to death for the rape and murder of a minor girl in Maval Taluka. According to an ANI report, the man had allegedly raped and killed a 6-year-old girl.

The report further added that the incident happened in August 2022. The girl, aged six, was playing in the courtyard of her home when the accused who is a resident of Kamshet in Maval taluka abducted her and later sexually assaulted her and killed her by slitting her throat. Reportedly, the girl's body was found in the accused's backyard the following day.

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The ANI report further stated that the accused's mother was also given a 7-year jail term for concealing evidence and not reporting the incident to the police.

Reportedly, both accused persons confessed to the crime during the probe but later retracted and pleaded not guilty once the chargesheet was filed in court by the police.

During the trial, Public Prosecutor Senior Advocate Rajesh Kavediya produced solid evidence proving that the accused stole a young girl while she was playing, sexually raped her, and brutally murdered her by slicing her neck. Following the crime, the accused sought to conceal the body by burying it behind his house, assisted by his mother, who concealed the victim's things to protect her son from punishment, the ANI report added.

"The accused thereafter attempted to hide the dead body by burying it in a pit below a tree behind his house. His mother had hidden the clothes and articles on the person of the deceased to protect her son from punishment, and so both accused should be convicted," Kavediya added.

Kavediya further emphasised the accused's unsavoury habits, characterising him as a sex maniac and said, "The accused is a sex maniac, obsessed with uncontrolled, relentless sexual thoughts and addicted to viewing child pornography." He then expressed gratitude towards the court for conducting a speedy trial.

Reportedly, the trial began around October 2022 and 29 witnesses were examined eight months after the chargesheet was filed.

Responding to the court's decision, defence lawyer Advocate Yashpal Purohit recognised the ruling but stated that the defence intends to appeal to a higher court to examine possible legal possibilities. "I welcome the judgment given by the honourable court, but the defence will be moving to a higher court to seek the legal remedies available to the accused," Purohit said, per ANI report.

The Sessions Court described the incident as one of the most violent and atrocious acts committed by a person driven by obsessive sexual desires and brutality. "The present crime seems to be one of the most heinous, brutal, and barbaric acts by a sexually obsessed and hardened cruel person." the report added.

The trial, presided over by Additional Sessions Court Judge BP Kshirsagar of the Pune Sessions Court, ended with the court's order.