top of page

By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Kamble lusted for women, animals: Judgment

Mumbai: Pune rape-cum-murder convict Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, 65 - who was slapped with triple death sentences and triple life imprisonments - has emerged as a deeply depraved sexual predator who, according to the historic judgment of a Pune Special (POCSO) Court, spared neither women nor animals to satisfy his lust. The verdict records that he routinely "misbehaved" with farm animals and had once even attempted to have sexual intercourse with a goat. Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe sentenced...

Kamble lusted for women, animals: Judgment

Mumbai: Pune rape-cum-murder convict Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, 65 - who was slapped with triple death sentences and triple life imprisonments - has emerged as a deeply depraved sexual predator who, according to the historic judgment of a Pune Special (POCSO) Court, spared neither women nor animals to satisfy his lust. The verdict records that he routinely "misbehaved" with farm animals and had once even attempted to have sexual intercourse with a goat. Special Judge S. R. Salunkhe sentenced Kamble to be “hanged till death” and awarded life imprisonment on each of the principal charges of rape, murder and kidnapping, besides convicting him under various provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Describing the crimes as “brutal, inhuman and barbaric”, the court held that it fell within the “rarest of rare” category deserving the ultimate punishment. Hailing from Salwade village in Bhor taluka of Pune district, Kamble was notorious for persistently harassing women and exhibiting sexually deviant behaviour, eventually forcing villagers to socially ostracise and expel him years ago. Depraved Personality His disturbing conduct towards animals first surfaced in 1996, when he was grazing goats on a nearby hillock and allegedly attempted to have sex with one of them. He was caught in the act by another shepherd and the incident spread in the village like wildfire. Though Kamble is the father of seven daughters and one son, all now married, he was driven away from his family and the villagers after he was declared persona non grata. Thereafter, he drifted from village to village, surviving as a daily-wage labourer, taking up odd jobs for meagre wages and sleeping wherever he could find shelter. In 1998, he was accused of sexually harassing an elderly woman from his extended family and later in 2024, he again faced allegations of molesting his minor niece. Although he was acquitted in both cases, current investigators view a pattern in his long history of predatory behaviour. Labourer to Murderer Most recently, Kamble worked as a farm labourer by a farmer Sandeep Gayawal in Nasrapur, around six kms from his native Salwade. Gayawal had allowed him to sleep on a cot inside a tin storage shed adjoining a cowshed. From April 25, Kamble and five other labourers were engaged in transporting bricks for renovation work at a nearby Ram Temple. After discovering that Kamble had begun storing his personal belongings inside the tin shed, Gayawal ordered him to vacate the premises on April 30. On the morning of May 1, Kamble left his belongings near the temple and loitered around. It was there that he spotted the victim - a girl aged three years and two months - playing with other children, but subsequent events serve as a grim lesson to all parents who allow their children to play outside but fail to keep an eye on them. The victim and her six-year-old elder sister had come from Dhayari village, nearly 20 kms from Narsapur, to spend summer vacation with their grandmother. Belonging to a priest’s family, the grandmother performed all rituals and managed the temple since the death of her husband in 2022. Incidentally, Gayawal was their neighbour. One of his four cows had recently calved, and the victim, her sister and other neighbourhood children frequently visited the cowshed to play with the newborn calf, which was tethered beside the same tin shed where Kamble had been staying. Black Day On the afternoon of May 1, the children were playing hide-and-seek around the temple precincts when Kamble targeted the little girl. Waiting till she was left alone inside the temple, he hurled bricks and drove away the other children, before implementing his nasty and lusty plans. Investigators later pieced together, through CCTV footage and other forensic evidence, that over the next 39 minutes, Kamble committed the horrific sexual assault before murdering the child, and again indulging in sex with her body. Meanwhile, at around 4 pm, when the grandmother realised the child was missing, an extensive search began, and other residents combed through CCTV footage. Initially they spotted a man dressed in white carrying a large bag. Suspecting he had kidnapped the girl, the villagers intercepted him, only to discover that the bag contained nothing more than loaves of bread, and he was allowed to leave. Probe End Soon afterwards, officers from Rajgad Police Station joined the investigation. CCTV footage from a neighbouring property showed Kamble emerging from a public water tank area before approaching the Munjoba Temple, where he was seen taking the child's hand and leading her towards Gayawal's tin shed - the very place from which he had been evicted a day earlier – and 39 minutes later, the footage captured him walking out alone. Suspicious villagers eventually found Kamble sitting casually on a bench near the Kalubai Temple. During questioning by Gayawal and others, he confessed to the crime, terming it as ‘a mistake’ as outrage erupted all over the state.

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.

Comments

bottom of page