MUMBAI: An eight-year-old girl was hacked to death by a farmhand in a village in Dahanu on Monday. The accused, who was wielding a sickle, also attacked a passer-by who tried to intervene.
The victim, Varsha Goshe, died on the spot, while the man who tried to help her, Vilas Bolada (40) is under treatment for his injuries.
The Dahanu police said that while the motive behind the girl’s murder is not clear, the accused Pramod Goshe (46) had a rift with her parents. Villagers also told the police that the accused was of unsound mind.
The girl was walking on the Ranshet-Vangadpada road around 1 pm, when the accused stabbed her with a sickle. Eyewitnesses told the police that he then ran into the nearby jungle. A police team combed the forest and caught Pramod in a few hours. The sickle was seized from him. He has been booked for murder and attempt to murder under the IPC. He will be produced before the Dahanu court on Wednesday.
The police added that his wife had left him three years ago due to his mental condition.
