Traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru Expressway in Pune, Maharashtra was severely disrupted on Saturday as hundreds of people blocked the road to protest the rape and murder of a 3.5-year-old girl in Nasirpur village in Pur taluka.
Police have arrested a 65-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting and killing the girl in a village cowshed.
Members of the girl’s family and other demonstrators placed her body on the ground in the sea bridge area, demanding the most severe punishments for the accused.
Although it was a peaceful sit-in, the situation escalated when protesters tried to block the Mumbai-Bengaluru Expressway, leading to massive traffic jams. Several alleged photos on social media showed huge queues of vehicles on the highway.
Pune Traffic Police also issued an advisory asking motorists to avoid the Wadgaon Bridge stretch and use alternative routes until traffic is restored.
Later, police forces dispersed the demonstrators from the roads.
Shortly after midnight, amid tight police security, the girl’s last rites were performed at Vaikunt crematorium in Pune.
What happened in Nasrapur village?
The 3.5-year-old girl’s grandparents began searching for her around 3pm after she had been missing for a few hours. However, when they failed to find her, they informed local residents and filed a complaint at Rajgad police station in Pur taluka, HT reported earlier.
Meanwhile, villagers browsed CCTV footage in a bid to find the girl. But they saw that a 65-year-old man entered the cowshed with the child.
The villagers tracked down the man and beat him on the river bank.
The police also examined the footage and went to the cowshed, where they found the girl with her head smashed and covered in cow dung.
Read also | Prime suspect arrested in sexual assault of 15-year-old Delhi boy
Shortly after, the police began searching for the 65-year-old man, only to find him being beaten by local residents. They arrested the man, and an investigating officer of the Pune Rural Police said he confessed to committing the crime.
According to the man’s confessions, as the officer stated, “he lured the child to the livestock pen under the pretext of showing her a calf, where he sexually assaulted her and killed her.”
Pune Rural Superintendent of Police Sandeep Singh Gill told HT that an investigation is underway.
Police reportedly suspect that after sexually assaulting her, the accused allegedly killed her by hitting her face with a stone and hid the body under a pile of cow dung in an attempt to hide evidence.
Read also | Pratapgarh: 50-year-old sexual assault accused shot, arrested
Rajgad police station registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 137(2), 103,64,74, 140(A), 140(C) and Sections 4,6,8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, 2012.
Later, the Pune Sessions Court ordered that the accused be remanded in police custody till May 7.
The accused had previous harassment cases
Superintendent of Police, Sandeep Singh Gill, also revealed that the accused had previous harassment cases registered under the POCSO Act in 1998 and 2015, and he was acquitted in the 2019 case.
Read also | 8th grade boy alleges sexual assault in Faridabad school; 2 minors were detained
“He is an elderly man with a similar pattern of behaviour. The victim is from Pune and came to visit her grandmother in the village on summer vacation. Since the village is sparsely populated, the police are investigating how the accused lured the child while she was playing,” Gill said, according to an earlier HT report.
CM Fadnavis will seek the death penalty
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condemned the incident and said he would seek death penalty for the 65-year-old in court.
Pune Deputy Chief Minister and Guardian Minister Sunetra Pawar met the girl’s family on Saturday and assured them of strict action against the accused along with a speedy trial.
Deputy CM and Shiv Sena supremo Eknath Shinde directed the Pune rural police to collect concrete evidence and build a watertight case. He said efforts should be made to ensure that the accused gets the death penalty.
(with PTI input)
