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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

Man gets death for minor’s rape, murder

Mumbai | Nashik: A Nashik Special Fast Track Court has awarded the death sentence to a 25-year old man who was convicted last week for luring a 4-year-old girl with a chocolate, kidnapping, raping and murdering her, here on Friday. Terming the case as the ‘rarest of rare’ crimes, the Special Judge K. D. Paldewar – who had found Vijay Sanjay Khairnar guilty of kidnap, sexual assault and murdering the child on Sep. 30 but reserved the verdict after the final arguments on Oct. 7 – pronounced the...

Man gets death for minor’s rape, murder

Mumbai | Nashik: A Nashik Special Fast Track Court has awarded the death sentence to a 25-year old man who was convicted last week for luring a 4-year-old girl with a chocolate, kidnapping, raping and murdering her, here on Friday. Terming the case as the ‘rarest of rare’ crimes, the Special Judge K. D. Paldewar – who had found Vijay Sanjay Khairnar guilty of kidnap, sexual assault and murdering the child on Sep. 30 but reserved the verdict after the final arguments on Oct. 7 – pronounced the capital punishment today. He also slapped a fine of Rs 10 lakhs as compensation to the victim’s family, hailing from Dongrale village before a packed courtroom where the villagers, the victim’s family and others were present. Emerging from the courtroom after the verdict, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the media that “the Court had considered the gravity of the crime and the circumstantial evidence establishing Khairnar’s involvement” while deciding the sentence. The Court did not take into account the convict’s poverty – he was a daily wager – or illiteracy as grounds for leniency, added the ace criminal lawyer. It was on Nov. 16, 2025 in Dongrale village of Malegaon taluka when Khairnar lured the little girl on the promise of giving her a chocolate and took her to a desolate spot to carry out his devious plans. Betraying the trust of the child who used to call him ‘dada’ (elder brother) due to their acquaintance, Khairnar sexually assaulted her, killed her and abandoned her before decamping from there. A few hours later, the child’s body was found dumped in a nullah and the police were summoned. As details of the gruesome crime tumbled out and spread, it ignited widespread public outrage all over the state. The police swung into action, formed several probe teams and managed to track down Khairnar from his hideout within a few hours. Considering the sensitivity of the crime, the strong emotions plus the mass furore it created, the state government assigned the case to a fast-track court, assigned Nikam as the SPP and the matter was heard speedily. The SPP aggressively led the prosecution, arguing in the court that in view of the gravity of the crime, the circumstances leading to it and other aspects, it warranted the severest punishment – death – for Khairnar, irrespective of his age or financial status. The Dongrale villagers stood in solidarity with the victim’s family and they raised a chorus for quick investigations, an expeditious trial and slapping the death penalty on the convict to serve as a strong deterrent to potential offenders. As per the Indian law, the trial court’s verdict will now go to the Bombay High Court for confirmation. Political leaders from different parties hailed the court verdict and said “justice has finally been done to the victim’s family”.

Rape convict Gurmeet Ram Rahim gets 21-day furlough; 13th temporary release since 2020

Correspondent
Apr 9, 2025
1 min read


Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim, who is serving time for rape and murder, was granted a 21-day furlough by the Haryana government on Wednesday morning.


Earlier this year, in January, he was also given a 30-day parole just before the Delhi Assembly elections held in February. Rahim is currently imprisoned in Rohtak’s Sunaria Jail.


According to The Times of India, since January 20 last year, the BJP-led Haryana government has allowed Gurmeet Ram Rahim temporary release for a total of 142 days.


This is reportedly the 13th time since October 24, 2020, that he has been granted parole or furlough.


In February, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) challenging his temporary release. The plea opposed a Punjab and Haryana High Court order allowing the furlough.


A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Prashant Kumar Mishra took note of the objection raised by Singh’s lawyer regarding the maintainability of the PIL, stating it was aimed at an individual – Gurmeet Ram Rahim – and dismissed it on those grounds.


The Dera Sacha Sauda, which is based in Sirsa, has a large number of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other states. In Haryana alone, the Dera has strong support in districts like Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Hisar.

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