The three accused being prosecuted in the much-discussed gangrape and murder of a girl in Kopardi village in western Maharashtra were attacked by four activists belonging to Shivba Sanghatana in front of a fast-track court at Ahmednagar where they had been brought for an ongoing trial.
The incident took place within the district court premises when the three accused — Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde (26), Santosh Gorkha Bhaval (30) and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume (28) — were being escorted by the police inside the court room. As the three activists were being led inside the court room, the four Shivba Sanghatana activists pounced on them. The three accused ran away and tried to hide themselves within the court
premises.
Meanwhile, the police ran after the four activists and arrested them. The police identified the four arrested activists as Rajendra Patil, Baburao Walekar, Amol Khune and Ganesh Khune. Meanwhile, the court completed recording of the deposition of key witness in the case Navnath Phakare. The trial in the case will now resume on April 16.
The fast-track court, it may be recalled, had on November 9 last year framed charges against three accused in the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act for rape and murder.
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 three accused are being tried under sections 376 ( rape), 302 (murder) of IPC and POSCO Act for allegedly perpetrating a sexual assault on a 15-year-old girl and strangulating her.