Missing 12-year-old girl was raped and murdered, 2 held in Buldhana

A 35-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping and killing the 12-year-old girl from Kolsewadi in Kalyan East who had gone missing on Monday

MUMBAI: A 35-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly raping and killing the 12-year-old girl from Kolsewadi in Kalyan East who had gone missing on Monday evening. Vishal Gawli, a habitual criminal with two molestation and one rape case against him, kidnapped her from her neighbourghood, took her to his house and raped her before killing her and dumped her body at an isolated location near Bapgaon in Bhiwandi with the help of his wife, said police. His wife Sakshi Gawli, 25, has also been apprehended for abetting the murder.

Kalyan East residents participated in a silent march to protest against the rape and murder on Wednesday. (Pramod Tambe/ HT)

The girl had left home to buy some snacks around 4.30pm on Monday and her father lodged a missing complaint at the Kolsewadi police station at around 11pm, after failing to locate her for several hours. On Tuesday morning, her body, with injury and bleeding marks in her abdomen, was found among the bushes near Bapgaon, following which the Padgha police registered a murder case.

“We formed teams to conduct the probe and surveyed CCTV footage of the area from which the girl went missing, which showed that Vishal Gawli was in the area when she was kidnapped,” said an officer from Padgha police station.

Gawli’s mobile phone was placed under surveillance and his location history confirmed that he was near the girl’s house at the time of her kidnapping. “The phone was switched off later but switched on again near the spot where her body was found,” the officer said.

The police then visited Gawli’s house in Kalyan East. Although he was not present, they nabbed his wife Sakshi, who confessed to her and her husband’s role in the rape and murder and said he had fled to Buldhana.

“Vishal kidnapped the girl at around 4.30pm on Monday and took her to his house where he raped and killed her. He stuffed her semi-nude body into a travel bag with his wife’s help and hailed an auto rickshaw. The couple then dumped the body near the bushes and left,” said the police officer quoted earlier.

Gawli was nabbed from Buldhana based on the information provided by his wife and his mobile phone location. He was arrested with the help of local police and brought to Mumbai on Wednesday evening. Both he and his wife will be produced in court on Thursday, said police.

The girl’s family had initially suspected that an auto driver who had allegedly molested her in December last year had raped and killed her.