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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”.

Zee honcho apologises to Rhea

Correspondent
Mar 29, 2025
3 min read

Mumbai: Setting a precedent of sorts, Zee Media Corporation Ltd Chairman-Emeritus Subhash Chandra has ‘apologised’ to Bollywood actress Rhea Chakraborty who was brutally targeted by the media in the aftermath of her boyfriend Sushant Singh Rajput’s death.

 

Chandra’s unexpected gesture – which ripped open a Pandora’s box in media circles – came days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s ‘closure report’ stating there was no foul play (in SSR’s death) and it was a case of suicide.

 

Posting on X, Chandra said he believed that the CBI closure report had come in the SSR ‘murder’ case “due to lack of credible evident”.

 

“No scope for ambiguity, hence it means no case is made out. In retrospect, I feel that Rhea Chakarborty was made out an accused by media, led by Zee News through its editor & reporters (at that time),” confessed Chandra.

 

The Zee honcho admitted that in retrospect, he feels that Rhea was painted as an accused by the media, led by Zee News through its editor and reporters (at that time).

 

Chandra contended how the other television networks had followed Zee News – all of which subjected the actress to a savage ‘media-trial’ though the case was still under probe.

 

“I do apologize to Rhea, even with no involvement of mine. As a mentor of Zee, advise them (the ex-Editor and other reporters) to be brave and apologize. I am like a one-faced Rudraksh-bead, same inside and outside. Call spade a spade,” Chandra signed off his post.

 

Storm in social media

Chandra’s regretful expressions kicked off a storm in political and social media with many questioning “why so late”, and “will you say sorry to the Muslim minority for continuously and falsely targeting them”, etc.

 

Eyebrows also went up in political circles at the Zee boss’ regrets and they question if it was linked to Chandra’s bitterness after he fell out of favour with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party a few years ago, shattering his big ambitions in public life.

 

Some media houses and their Editors, who had attempted a balanced coverage of the SSR death case and Rhea’s alleged role in it, recall how they were ferociously hounded by Chandra’s Zee channels, blatantly discarding professional norms.

 

Bollywood circles, speaking to ‘The Perfect Voice’ off-record, acknowledge how Rhea became a victim of media bias, many journos hounding and jumping the gun to point accusing fingers at her, but all this virtually destroyed her budding film career.

 

At one point, there was political speculation that the All India Trinamool Congress headed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was considering fielding Rhea for the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections, but the plans came to naught for unknown reasons.

 

Chandra’s calculations

Subhash Chandra was elected as an independent member of Rajya Sabha from Haryana in 2016 with a backing from the BJP. He contested the Rajya Sabha election as an independent from Rajasthan in 2022 again with the BJP’s support. However, he lost it. The media baron started keeping a distance from the ruling BJP since then. During the campaign of 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he had directed the editors of his media network not to give much air time to the speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

 


This is for the first time in the history of Indian news media industry that the owner of a media network has tendered an apology for the coverage of his network and passed the blame on the Editor for the ‘wrong’ reporting. Sudhir Chaudhary, the then Editor of Zee Group, has not yet responded to Subhash Chandra’s stand.

 
 
 

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