3 get death in Kopardi rape case Meanwhile, a Dalit family’s quest for justice continues
VERDICT Punishment to be executed only after the high court upholds sentence
PUNE: An Ahmednagar court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to three men for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra’s Kopardi village in 2016 that triggered statewide protests.
Jitendra Babulal Shinde, 25, Santosh Gorakh Bhaval, 30, and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume, 23, were sentenced to death for rape, murder and criminal conspiracy, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.
“Today, my little girl got justice in the true sense,” the girl’s mother, who broke down after hearing the judge’s order, said.
The death penalty would have to be confirmed by the Bombay high court.
Considering the caste sensitivities, security was tight around the court of additional special judge Suvarna Kevale who had found the three men guilty on November 18 under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. “The judgment will be a deterrent for other criminals,” Nikam said.
The girl, a Class 9 student, was raped and murdered on July 13, 2016 in Ahmednagar district’s at Kopardi village, 120km from Pune.
She was returning home from her grandfather’s house in the same village when the three men grabbed her and took her to an isolated place, the charge sheet said.
Four or five days before the incident, t he accused had
17YEAROLD NITIN AAGE WAS MURDERED IN 2014 FOR ALLEGEDLY TALKING TO AN UPPER CASTE MARATHA GIRL
stopped the girl and tried to molest her, Nikam told the court. When she resisted, two of them threatened her.
On July 13, 2016, the three were moving around on their motorcycles to keep a watch on the girl, Nikam said.
The incident assumed casteist and political overtones, as the girl belonged to the Maratha community while the three
accused men were Dalits.
Silent marches (mook morcha) were held by Marathas across the state seeking speedy justice for the girl and some Dalits were attacked in neighbouring Nashik.
The Nationalist Congress Party and Congress demanded chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ resignation on moral grounds.
The protests forced the government to appoint noted criminal lawyer Nikam, who has appeared in several high-profile cases including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, as the special public prosecutor.
“We thank the public prosecutor, chief minister and the entire Maratha community for their efforts in bringing the accused to books,” the girl’s father said. PUNE: The death sentence awarded to three men for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl in Ahmednagar’s Kopardi village in Maharashtra on Wednesday brought a sense of closure to the teenager’s family.
The verdict came within 16 months of the crime, a good pace in a painfully slow judicial system. But just a week ago, another family’s quest for justice in Ahmednagar district was dealt a blow when all the nine men accused of murdering 17-year-old Nitin Aage were acquitted for want of evidence.
“The Kopardi judgment is good and I welcome it. People’s faith in judiciary will strengthen further if the process is expedited in other cases too,” prominent Dalit writer Raosaheb Kasbe told Hindustan Times a few hours after the Kopardi verdict.
The largest district in Maharashtra, Ahmednagar is a part of the sugar-cane belt and has a history of caste strife.
The Kopardi victim was an upper caste Maratha and the rapists Dalits. Aage was a Dalit and all the nine accused Marathas.
Marathas, who are the land owners, account for 40% of the district’s population of 4.5 million, while 21% of the people are scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, many of whom work the fields for the Marathas.
The Kopardi case was keenly followed as it sparked caste protests. Marathas held marches for justice while Dalits faced violence in some parts of the state.
Aage was murdered on April 28, 2014 in Kharda village for allegedly talking to a Maratha girl. His body was found hanging from a tree, the first information report (FIR) said.
The post mortem report revealed the scale of violence. Aage’s head and private parts had burn injuries and his face was smashed. The girl’s brother, uncle and seven other men were arrested on charges of murder and under the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes (prevention of atrocities) act.
But On November 23, an Ahmednagar court acquitted all the nine for lack of evidence after 16 of the 26 witnesses turned hostile. “I don’t know what to do. I am at a complete loss,” Aage’s father, Raju, said after the verdict.