The prosecution in the Kopardi gangrape and murder case trial found itself on the defensive on Friday, as a defence lawyer sought the summoning of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as witness for allegedly trying to “prejudice” the court and another lawyer submitted documents and a video to suggest that the prosecution had tried to “influence” the witnesses in the case.
A day after defence lawyer Vijayalaxmi Khopade moved the court seeking the summoning of six persons, including Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, as witnesses in the case, another lawyer Prakash Aher, representing the third accused Nitin G Bhailume, moved an application before the trial court seeking the summoning of the Chief Minister for allegedly trying to influence through his statement that the accused in the case would be handed death penalty.
In a related development, Sessions Judge Suvarna Keole directed the prosecution to file its say on the various documents, CDs and a video submitted by lawyer Vijayalaxmi on behalf of her client, accused number two Santosh Bhaval which suggests that the prosecution had tried to “influence” the members of the victim’s family, that the probe carried out under the guidance of Nikam and that the SPP had been asked to fill up the lacunae in the investigations.
The victim girl, who belonged to the Maratha community, was brutally raped on July 13, 2016 allegedly by three men who inflicted injuries all over her body and broke her limbs before throttling her at Kopardi village in Ahmednagar district.
The fast-track court had on November 9 last year framed charges against three accused — Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde (26), Santosh Gorkha Bhaval (30) and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume (28) — under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act for for allegedly perpetrating a sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl and strangulating her in July 2016.
In his arguments made on behalf of his client Bhailume, Aher contended that the Chief Minister had tried to “interfere” and “prejudice” the court against the accused, through his statement made in the Maharashtra legislative Council on July 20, 2016 that the State Government would ensure that the accused in the case were handed out death sentence.