Pune Minor Rape Murder Case 32 Witnesses Examined Special Court Trial

A special court in Pune has recorded statements of as many as 32 witnesses in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a three-year-old girl by a 65-year-old man, at a village in Maharashtra’s Pune district. Special Public Prosecutor Ajay Misar Thursday said the witnesses who have been examined before the court include family members of the victim girl, local search team, those on CCTV footage, panchas (impartial witnesses), medical officers of Sassoon Hospital and child witnesses. “The matter is proceeding very fast. Cogent evidence is recorded,” he said. Misar said evidence from seven medical officers was recorded on Thursday. Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts for this case have been called in on Friday, he said. According to the police, the girl, who was at her grandmother’s house at the time of the incident, was raped and murdered on May 1. She was playing near a local temple when the accused, who has a criminal record, allegedly lured her and took her to a cowshed, saying he would give her ‘Shev’ (a popular snack) to eat and show her a calf. But there, he allegedly raped the girl, gagged her with a cloth and then killed her by brutally assaulting her with his hands. He then tried to destroy the evidence of his crime by allegedly dumping her dead body in the cowshed, the police said. On May 16, the police filed a chargesheet of around 1,100 pages against the accused, as per Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 137 (2) [kidnapping], 103 [murder[, 64 [rape], 65 (2) [rape of a girl under 12 years] 74 [assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty], 140 (1) [kidnapping or abducting to murder] and sections 4, 6, 8, 12 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, which deal with sexual assault and sexual harassment. Subsequently, the charges were framed against the accused on May 28. The prosecution has submitted a list of 82 witnesses to the court. The accused is currently in Yerwada jail. An “in-camera” trial against him is on before the special court. The prosecution has