CM in Kopardi, promises family speedy trial
RAJ TO VISIT KOPARDI
PUNE: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday gave the media the slip and visited Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district and met the family of the class 9 girl who was raped and murdered on July 13, sparking tensions between Marathas and Dalits.
Fadnavis, who was accompanied by the Ahmednagar guardian minister, Ram Shinde, promised her family that a speedy trial would be conducted. Three Dalit men have been arrested and charged with the rape and murder of the district level kabaddi player who was on her way back home from her grandfather’s residence. When the girl did not reach home till late, her parents approached the police who found her body under a tree with her bicycle abandoned near a canal. The autopsy report confirmed that the girl had been raped and tortured before being murdered.
“The investigation so far has revealed the role of three persons who forced themselves on her. The post-mortem report clearly indicates internal injuries and a fractured bone leading to her death,” said Saurabh Tripathi, Ahmednagar superintendent of police. The police arrested three construction labourers Jitendra Shinde, 25, Santosh Bhawal, 36, and Nitin Bhailume, 26, and charged them with the crime.
The rape and murder had sparked protests across Maharashtra, with Maratha outfits and political parties seeking swift action and accusing the authorities of going slow because the accused were Dalits. Ahmednagar has a history of caste Days after political parties were stopped from visiting Kopardi village in Ahmednagar in the backdrop of the rape and murder of a minor, MNS chief Raj Thackeray will visit the village and meet the girl’s family on Monday morning.
According to an MNS leader, Raj is expected to reach Kopardi village at 11am and meet the family of the girl who was killed by a gang of three on July 13.
Raj will visit the village a day after Devendra Fadnavis met the family.
violence, with the Dalits mostly at the receiving end. Following the rape and murder at Kopardi, the state government had deployed a large police force in the area to prevent any clashes.
Fadnavis’s visit to the Kopardi was kept under wraps, with only top officials from the district administration informed in advance. The district adminis tration restricted media access beyond a certain point to ensure there was no violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) which says survivors or victims should not be identified. Criticised by the opposition for not visiting the girl’s family, Fadnavis had told the legislature that he did not visit the family immediately after the incident as it could have led to the identification of the girl and her family.