3 get life term in 2016 Shahad murder case

THANE: The Kalyan sessions court on Wednesday sentenced three of the four accused arrested in the 2016 Shahad robbery-gang rape-murder case to life imprisonment for murdering a 22-year-old engineering student in her home in Shahad near Kalyan.

The fourth accused is a 16-year-old boy and is being handled by the Juvenile Justice Board. However, the court acquitted the three accused Nitin Waghe, Nitish Bhoir and Ravindra Waghe, from the charge of gang rape for want of cogent evidence. Assistant public prosecutor, Rachana Bhoir said, “They have been convicted based on the recovery. The accused were found with a gold chain, mobile phone and laptop of the deceased girl. The case was tough because there were no eyewitnesses, but we had strong circumstantial evidence. Only the minor accused was involved in rape as his DNA sample matched; the three accused’s DNA samples were negative.”

The 22-year-old had just completed her engineering degree and was staying with her brother and sister-in-law in Shadad. On the day of the incident in April 2016, the victim’s brother and his wife were sleeping in their bedroom, while she was sleeping in the hall. The four accused climbed up the gas pipeline and entered the flat which had no grilles in the window. After entering, they locked the bedroom door from outside and robbed the woman’s gold chain, laptop, and phone. After robbing her, they first tied her mouth with a cloth and killed her and then raped her, said officials.

Five days after the incident, Thane crime branch nabbed all four accused from Ambivli area. The minor was sent to a juvenile home from where he fled and later was arrested again in another theft case in Pune after two years. The other accused were sent to judicial custody.