Journalism of Courage
Pune girl rape-murder: Charges framed against 65-year-old accused, he pleads not guilty
The alleged incident took place on May 1. The Pune court ordered that, considering the sensitive nature of the case, the trial be conducted in camera.
The counsel of the accused in the Pune girl rape-murder case argued that the chargesheet did not contain adequate evidence to establish serious offences such as kidnapping, molestation and murder. (Image generated using AI)
A special court on Thursday framed charges against a 65-year-old man who allegedly raped and murdered a three-year-old girl in a village in Maharashtra’s Pune district, observing that the evidence on record contained sufficient grounds to do so. The accused denied the charges.
The Pune court directed that day-to-day hearings in the matter be conducted from Friday. Considering the seriousness and sensitive nature of the case, the court also ordered that the trial be conducted in camera, the police said.
The girl, who was at her grandmother’s house at the time of the incident, was raped and murdered on May 1. She was playing near a local temple when the accused, who has a criminal record, allegedly lured her and took her to a cowshed. He allegedly dumped her body in cow dung. The incident had sparked outrage, leading to an angry mob blocking the Pune-Satara highway.
The accused, currently in Yerwada jail under judicial custody, was produced before the special court around 11 am on Thursday under police security.
On May 16, the police had filed a chargesheet of around 1,100 pages against the accused.
CCTV footage, statements cited
Special Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar submitted in court that CCTV footage collected during the investigation clearly shows the accused taking the minor girl away. “Statements of some children and villagers recorded before the police as well as before the court establish that the accused and the victim were last seen together before her death,” Misar told the court.
He also referred to the identification parade conducted by witnesses, the medical reports of the accused and the victim, medical evidence regarding the accused’s capability to commit such an act, reports confirming the accused’s sound mental condition, DNA analysis, forensic science laboratory analysis, the inquest panchnama of the deceased, the postmortem report, and material evidence recovered on the basis of the accused’s statement.
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Misar submitted a list of 82 witnesses before the court. He submitted that the prosecution had sufficiently strong oral and documentary evidence to prove all the charges levelled against the accused. He further argued that all circumstantial evidence collected during the investigation forms a strong and complete chain, and therefore requested the court to frame charges against the accused.
Habitual offender: Police
On behalf of the accused, legal aid defence counsel and senior advocate Himantrao Suryawanshi, chief legal aid defence counsel K A Jiwani, and deputy chief legal aid defence counsel G R Gajbhiye appeared before the court.
Suryawanshi argued that the chargesheet does not contain adequate evidence to establish serious offences such as kidnapping, molestation and murder. He further contended that the “last seen together” theory and the forensic evidence are neither proper nor reliable, and therefore charges cannot be framed against the accused.
Meanwhile, the police said the accused was a habitual offender who was earlier booked in two molestation cases. The police said he allegedly sexually assaulted an elderly woman in 1998 and allegedly molested his 17-year-old niece in 2015, but was acquitted in both cases on technicalities.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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