Kamal Ghorui
PUNE: Hundreds of protesters blocked the Mumbai–Bengaluru highway in Pune on Saturday following the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl, bringing traffic on the busy route to a standstill for nearly four hours.According to news agency PTI, the child’s family members and other demonstrators placed her body on the road near the Navale Bridge area, demanding strict punishment for the 65-year-old accused.Several videos from the spot showed long queues of vehicles stranded on the highway as the protest escalated.The girl’s last rites were later performed at the Vaikunt crematorium in Pune shortly after midnight amid heavy police deployment.Accused arrestedA police team on Friday apprehended Bhimrao Kamble, a resident of a neighbouring village.Kamble allegedly took the victim to a cattle enclosure, where he sexually assaulted her and later killed her by striking her with a stone.Police said he was arrested after CCTV footage from a nearby private residence showed him with the child.Preliminary investigations suggest the child was raped and then gagged with a piece of cloth, leading to her death.“Police also found head injuries. A special team of four officers has been constituted. A chargesheet will be filed expeditiously,” an official said.History of sexual offences The police said the accused had a history of sexual offences.“Kamble was first booked for molestation in 1998 but was later acquitted. A second case was registered against him in 2015 involving a minor relative, but the complaint was subsequently withdrawn. We will review both these past cases.”Also read: Man arrested for rape, murder of 3-year-old in Pune has ‘history of sexual offences’A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The accused has been remanded in police custody till May 7.Maharashtra deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar met the victim’s family on Saturday and assured them of strict action and a fast-track trial.Describing the incident as “shocking” and a “blot on humanity”, she said the government stood firmly with the victim’s family.She also said she had spoken to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting a fast-track court trial so that the accused receives the harshest punishment.
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Deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde directed Pune rural police to collect strong evidence and build a watertight case.“Efforts should be made to ensure the accused gets the death penalty,” he said in a statement.Our objective is to ensure that the accused is awarded death penalty: FadnavisOn the rape and murder incident, Fadnavis on Sunday said, “I personally spoke to the victim’s father twice yesterday. I explained to him that our objective is to ensure that the accused is awarded the death penalty. For this, we are taking all necessary steps through the high court to fast-track the filing of the charge sheet and the trial of the case.”“Our effort is to complete the entire process in record time… We will ensure that there are no legal loopholes that could be misused… We have also given a written assurance to the victim’s family that the case will be expedited in the court,” Fadnavis added further. “The incident is extremely serious, and public anger is natural and justified. However, some people are trying to take advantage of the situation and divert it in a different direction. I thank the victim’s father for understanding the situation. After discussions with the Commissioner of Police, he decided to call off the protest. Unfortunately, some people were trying to stop him as well. We are aware of who those individuals are, but we do not wish to act on that right now. We stand firmly with the family. We will also investigate whether the accused has any prior criminal record and whether there were any lapses earlier in handling such cases,” he said.
