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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Three deaths, three lifers

Landmark verdict in 60 days as pune court terms crime ‘rarest of rare’; calls ‘brutal’, ‘inhuman’ and ‘barbaric’ Mumbai: In a milestone verdict, a Pune Special Fast Track Court handed triple death and triple life sentences to a 65-year old man for the rape-cum-murder of a three-years and two-months old girl, within barely 60 days of the crime, terming the case as falling in the ‘rarest of rare’ category, on Monday. Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe slapped the verdicts “to be hanged till death”...

Three deaths, three lifers

Landmark verdict in 60 days as pune court terms crime ‘rarest of rare’; calls ‘brutal’, ‘inhuman’ and ‘barbaric’ Mumbai: In a milestone verdict, a Pune Special Fast Track Court handed triple death and triple life sentences to a 65-year old man for the rape-cum-murder of a three-years and two-months old girl, within barely 60 days of the crime, terming the case as falling in the ‘rarest of rare’ category, on Monday. Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe slapped the verdicts “to be hanged till death” and “life imprisonment” for each of the three main charges – rape, murder, kidnapping besides provisions of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, terming the acts of the convict, Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, as “brutal, inhuman and barbaric”. “The Special Court has awarded three life-terms and three death sentences for all the main charges. This is an unprecedented and historical verdict,” an elated Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Ajay S. Misar told ‘The Perfect Voice’ shortly after the ruling. The precedent-setting ruling came before a jam-packed courtroom where Kamble stood with his head down in the witness box, the family members of the victim’s family, along with SPP Misar, the Pune Police Investigating Officer Inspector Vijaymala Pawar, and Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill besides the family’s lawyer Vipul Dushing remaining present. Diabolical Crime The Special Judge observed that the diabolical crime – for which Kamble was convicted on June 25 - did not just shock the judicial conscience but also shook public ethics, citing similar bestial incidents in Kathua (Jammu & Kashmir, 2018) and Unnao (Uttar Pradesh, 2017) that had sparked similar public outrage – as the victim’s family members broke down in the courtroom today. According to the police and prosecution, the victim girl, who was visiting her grandmother, was accosted by Kamble, later raped and murdered on the afternoon of May 1 at Nasrapur village in Bhor taluka of Pune district. “The offences relate to the commission of serious crimes like murder and rape by an accused with a prior record and a substantial history of serious assault. The offence was committed outrageously and involved inhuman treatment and torture of the victim. The victim was an innocent, helpless child. The murder was committed to satisfy lust, which evidences total depravity. It was a cold-blooded murder without provocation. The crime was committed so brutally that it shocks not only the judicial conscience but even the conscience of society,” the Special Judge Salunkhe said. Aggravating Factor Justifying the capital punishments, the Special Court said the only circumstance that could be posed was the age of the accused (65 years), and opined that it was not a mitigating but rather an aggravating factor, while relying on solid and circumstantial evidence like CCTV footage, DNA profiling, the statements of 55 witnesses, including a child, crime scene panchnama, identification parade records, articles seized during the probe, chemical analysis and other scientific reports, produced during the trial, SPP Misar said six crucial CCTV footage reconstructed the sequences of events, it showed Kamble taking the victim towards the crime scene at 3.12 pm that afternoon and returning alone at 3.51 pm, establishing she was in his custody for 39 minutes. It was during that period he sexually assaulted the victim, committed an unnatural sexual act, killed her and then concealed her body to mislead the investigators. Medical Reports The prosecution team of SPP Misar and Prathamesh Shingane also relied on the medical and autopsy reports, the detailed analysis of the injuries that corroborated its reconstruction of the crime and other circumstantial evidence indicated that the crime was pre-planned by Kamble. The Special Court noted that the prosecution proved both the last seen theory and the chain of evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, that Kamble was the ‘last person seen with the victim’ while she was alive, and there was no one else in her company before her death, with the entire set of circumstantial evidence unbroken and complete, pointing to his guilt. Strongly seeking the capital punishment SPP Misar cited 12 Supreme Court judgements while the family’s lawyer Dughing said: “The victim was of a very tender age, 38 months old while Kamble was 65 years. The nature of the crime is extremely barbaric and committed solely to satisfy his lust.” They rubbished Kamble’s statement to the court as “totally false”, demolished by the probe, scientific DNA profiling, medical records, forensic reports and circumstantial evidence, to decisively nail him.

Discussions on among allies for govt formation: Ajit Pawar

Updated: Nov 29, 2024

Ajit Pawar

Mumbai: Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.


Speaking to reporters at Karad in Satara district, Pawar also acknowledged the contribution of the government's Ladki Bahin scheme, which provides financial assistance to women, in the Mahayuti's victory in the just-concluded state assembly polls.


The NCP leader also assured that the alliance was working cohesively following its resounding victory in the state assembly elections.


Pawar paid tributes to Maharashtra's first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan at his memorial in Karad on his death anniversary.


In the state poll results declared on Saturday, the Mahayuti, which comprises the BJP, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, bagged an impressive 230 of the 288 assembly seats.


The focus has been on BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is being seen as a strong contender to occupy the top post for the third time, as his party bagged 132 of the 149 seats it contested in the state.


Notably, Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar has said his party legislators feel Eknath Shinde should continue as the chief minister of the state, where the ruling Mahayuti scored a landslide victory in the assembly polls.


Ajit Pawar said, "We will decide what formula to work out on the cabinet formation among the three parties."


Reflecting on the elections, he acknowledged the contribution of the Ladki Bahin scheme in the Mahayuti's win.


"We cannot ignore that Ladki Bahin helped us in this election. We are grateful to them (women voters)," he said.


Defending the scheme, Pawar, who is also the state finance minister, further said, "Had I been opposed to the Ladki Bahin scheme, I would not have presented it in the House. I discussed the scheme with several retired finance officers before finalising it."


Pawar also dismissed concerns raised by some opposition leaders over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), pointing out that polls in states like Punjab, West Bengal and Telangana, governed by their political opponents, have been conducted with the same system.


Commenting on members of same families contesting against each other during the elections, Pawar expressed annoyance over repeated questions on it.


He then asked, "Why was my close nephew fielded? Atram's own daughter was fielded against him, and even Rajendra Shingne faced a similar challenge. I don't want to comment further on this. I have got tired of apologising for fielding my wife against Supriya. Yugendra was in business, then why was he prepared to contest against me?"


In the Baramati assembly seat, Ajit Pawar was pitted against his nephew and NCP (SP) candidate Yugendra Pawar.


In Aheri seat, NCP leader Dharamraobaba Atram's daughter Bhagyashree Atram contested against him on NCP (SP) ticket.

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