KOLHAPUR: The district sessions court here on Thursday held a 40-year-old man guilty of rape and murder of a six-year-old girl and the punishment will be announced by judge V V Joshi on Monday.
The incident of abduction, rape and murder of the six-year-old girl took place on October 31, 2021, at Khochi village in Hatkanangle tehsil of Kolhapur district. The accused — Pradip alias Banda Powar — was arrested within 24 hours by police under sections Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocos) Act.
Heeding to the public sentiments, state government appointed senior Bombay High Court lawyer Umeshchandra Yadav-Patil as the special public prosecutor. Before the court, the lawyer has demanded maximum punishment in such case which is capital punishment.
Speaking to TOI Yadav-Patil said, “We presented eight such rulings and maintained that it is the rarest of rare case as per the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court. The accused also had no sign of remorse despite committing such a gruesome act. Moreover, he took the undue advantage of the relationship he had with the girl’s father.”
The girl’s body was found in the compound of a burial site. The girl’s mother after returning from work found her daughter not home. With the help of neighbours she found that her daughter was last seen with Powar which made the cops suspicious about him.
