Three convicts get death penalty

Ahmednagar: A Special Court on Wednesday awarded death sentence to all three accused convicted of the rape and brutal murder of a 15-year-old schoolgirl in Kopardi village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district in 2016.

Jitendra alias Pappu Babulal Shinde, 26, Santosh Gorkha Bhawal, 30, and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume, 28, were sentenced to death for rape, conspiracy, murder and other crimes, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the media after the verdict.

Earlier, finding them guilty on November 18, Ahmednagar District and Sessions Judge Suvarna Keole, pronounced the verdict under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act before a packed courtroom.

The judge has allowed the convicts to appeal before the Bombay High Court.

"We shall challenge not only the verdict but the entire proceedings before the High Court, the lapses and other issues on which we have already given our written submission to the Sessions Court," the lawyers for Bhawal, Balasaheb Khopade and Vijayalaxmi Khopade, said.

The crime took place on July 13, 2016, when the 15-year-old was abducted, raped, mutilated and killed, sparking off a casteist and political furore in Maharashtra.

That evening, the Class 9 student was out to fetch some spices from her grandmother's home in the same village.

"Justice has finally been done. My daughter will never return. This is the real tribute to my daughter. We are grateful to (Ujjwal) Nikam Saheb," the victim's mother said before breaking down inconsolably outside the courtroom.

Nikam said: "The prime accused Shinde has been convicted and fined for committing the offences of molestation, rape and brutal murder while the other two, Bhawal and Bhailume, provoked him (Shinde), encouraged, conspired and abetted in the crimes."