More than 16 months after the ghastly rape and murder of a minor Maratha girl in Kopardi village of Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, a fast-track set up under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, on Wednesday handed out death sentence to all the three convicts in the case.

Amid tight security arrangements made inside and outside the court room at Ahmednagar where several thousands of people had gathered since the morning, district Sessions Judge (Mrs) Suvarna Keole awarded capital punishment to all the three convicts in the case — Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde (26), Santosh Gorkha Bhawal (30) and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume (28).

The three convicts stood silently in the dock, as the Judge pronounced death sentence to all the convicts in the sensational rape and murder case which had not only sent shock waves through the state but it had also triggered wide-spread protests across the state.

Pronouncing graded punishments for various crimes, the Judge sentenced Jitendra Shinde to three years’ imprisonment for outraging the modesty of the victim girl, life imprisonment for conspiracy and rape and capital punishment for   murder of the victim girl. In the case of Bhawal and Bhailume, Judge Keole sentenced the two convicts to three years’ imprisonment for conspiracy in outraging modesty of victim girl, life imprisonment for conspiracy in rape and death sentence for conspiracy in murder of the victim girl.

In addition to the sentences, the court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of the three convicts and in the event their failure to pay up the fine, they would have to undergo three months of simple imprisonment. The court also directed the Ahmednagar district collector to recover a cost of Rs 18,000 from the accused number two (Bhawal) for his lawyers’ failure to remain present in the court on one occasion due to medical reasons and to deposit the amount in the State treasury.

The Judge also ordered that the motorbike and cell phone of prime accused Jitendra Shinde, seized from the crime scene, be auctioned and money be deposited in the state treasury.   

In the final arguments that preceded pronouncement of sentence on the three convicts, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had rooted for capital punishment to all the three accused on the ground that it was “rarest of rare” case, while defence lawyers – representing the three accused – had urged the court to show leniency in punishment.  

Judge Keole had earlier on November 18 held all the accused in the case –Jitendra Shinde, Santosh Bhawal and Nitin Bhailume – held guilty of charges framed against them under various sections of Indian Penal Code and POSCO Act and convicted them for the rape and murder of a school girl at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district.

A 15-year-old victim girl, who belonged to the dominant Maratha community, was brutally raped between 7.35 pm and 8.15 pm July 13, 2016 and later throttled to death. The victim girl was on her way to bring spice from her grandfather house at that time.

All the three accused in the case are Dalits. The incident, it may be recalled, had sparked widespread protests in the state, with various political parties and Maratha organisations rooting for capital punishment to the accused.   

Talking to media persons outside the Ahmednagar court, Special Public Prosecutor Nikam said: “While awarding death sentence to all the three accused, the court has said that all the three had conspired to commit rape and murder of a minor girl. The accused number two (Bhawal) and three (Bhailume) had provoked accused number one (Jitendra Shinde) to commit rape and murder of the minor girl. Therefore, the court has awarded death sentence to all the three accused”

“In addition to the sentences awarded to the three accused, the court has also awarded separate sentences under section 354 (outraging modesty) and 376 (rape) of IPC to all the three accused. The court has awarded 3 years of rigorous imprisonment for outraging the modesty of the minor girl. The court has also sentenced life imprisonment up to 20 years for conspiring and outraging the modesty and committing the murder of the victim,” Nikam said.

Reacting to the verdict, defence lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade — who along with senior her father and senior lawyer Balasaheb Khopade had represented accused number two (Bhawal) in the case — said: “We have so far not received the copy of the court. After going through the judgement, we will take a call on challenging the trial court’s order in the Bombay High Court.

All the family members of the victim girl were present at the court. Reacting to the judgement, the victim girl’s father said: “The court has done us justice. I had full confidence in the court. We were waiting every single day for nearly one-and-a-half years for this judgement. We knew that the accused would handed maximum punishment which has happened”.

 Several thousands of people – comprising Kopardi villagers, volunteers of women’s groups and NGOs, onlookers, lawyers, litigants and local politicians  ---were waiting outside the court since the morning for the Judge to pronounce the quantum of sentence. 

 Not wanting to take any chances, the police had stationed a posse of its personnel inside and outside the court.

 Immediately after the Judge pronouncing death sentence to all the three convicts, the huge crowd gathered outside the court broke into jubilation.

 Meanwhile, the Ahmednagar trial court came in for wholesome praise leaders of all political parties.

Hailing the verdict, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The verdict has sent a strong message to all those having tendencies of committing sexual crimes. The ruling will deter them from indulging in such acts in future. The verdict has also enhanced the confidence of people in the Judiciary. Ujjwal Nikam whom we appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor, did a fabulous job”

The 11-month-long trial in Ahmednagar minor girl rape and murder case had generated considerable interest among the people across the state.  

The fast-track court had on November 9 last year framed charges against three accused --- Jitendra  Shinde, Santosh Bhawal and Nitin Bhailume --under various sections of POSCO Act and IPC for allegedly perpetrating a sexual assault on the victim girl and strangulating her.

The Prosecution’s case is that the prime accused Jitendra Shinde allegedly raped and murdered the girl, while two other accused  Bhawal  and Bhailume had “conspired” with Shinde in the heinous crime.

During the trial which began on December 20, 2016, the Prosecution examined 31 witnesses, while defence lawyer defence lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade – representing one of the three accused Bhawal in the case – examined one witness.

There were no eyewitnesses in the case and that the entire case was based on “circumstantial evidence”, omissions and commissions made by the accused and forensic evidence”.

Nikam, it may be recalled, had -- during his final arguments in the case  --adduced 24 pieces of circumstantial evidence built up the chain of events leading to the rape of the “homicidal death” of the victim girl who was studying in the ninth standard.

According to Nikam, the medical evidence helped the Prosecution nail the prime accused in the case. “The dental imprints found on both the breasts of the victim girl matched with that of the accused number one (Jitendra Shinde).  The blood group of the victim girl was “A”, while blood group of Shinde is Rs O’. The blood (group A) found on Shinde’s shirt matched that of the victim girl,” Nikam said.

Earlier, in his final arguments, Nikam had said that it was the prime accused Jitendra Shinde who had raped and throttled the victim girl to death.  He had also told the court that though the two of the accused were not physically present at the crime scene, they had conspired with the prime accused in the commission of the heinous act.

Nikam had among other things told the court that the two accused were present along with the prime accused “eve-teased” the victim girl two days prior to the incident and that Shinde had given a “missed” call to Bhilume when the latter and Bhawal were allegedly in the neigbhourbood of the crime scene.          

Reacting to the verdict, senior lawyer Balasaheb Khopade  -- who had assisted  his defence lawyer-daughter Vijayalaxmi Khopade in the case -- said: “Given the public sentiments involved in the case, we were expecting this kind of a verdict from the court. We will take a call on challenging the trial court’s order after going through the final judgement in the case”.

Making no bones about his “extreme disappointment” over the verdict, another defence lawyer Prakash Aher – who represented Bhailume (accused number three) in the case –also indicated that he might challenge the trial court’s the Bombay High Court.