E-Paper
Court awards death penalty to POCSO culprit
Court of Additional Sessions Judge and District Judge gave death sentence to a man in a case of rape, kidnapping and murder of minor under POCSO Act
Pune: Additional Sessions Judge and District Judge BP Kshirsagar on Friday gave death sentence to a man in a case of rape, kidnapping and murder of minor. The accused Tejas Mahipati Dalvi had committed the crime and his accomplice Sujata Mahipati Dalvi assisted in disposing of the body and tampering with evidence.
The accused were booked under Sections 363, 302, 376(2), 376A, 376AB, 201 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) Act and Section 235(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The court observed that the crime seems to be one of the heinous, brutal and barbaric acts by a sexually obsessed and hardened cruel person.
The prosecution proved that Tejas kidnapped the deceased girl, aged about 6 years 10 months, at Kothurne in Maval of Pune district on August 2, 2022, and committed an offence punishable under Section 363 (punishment for kidnapping) of IPC.
“For the offence punishable u/s 302 IPC, the accused number one (Tejas Dalvi) is sentenced to death... For the offence punishable under Section 376A of IPC, he is sentenced to death. For the offence punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act, the accused is sentenced to death..,” the order stated.
The judge prosecuted Sujata and convicted her for the offence punishable under Section 21 of the POCSO Act, Section 201 of IPC and Section 202 of CrPC.
Additional public prosecutor (APP) Rajesh Kavediya submitted that Tejas kidnapped the deceased girl, while she was playing at the courtyard and took her to his home, sexually assaulted her and committed the murder by cutting her throat. He attempted to conceal the body by hiding it at a pit near a tree located behind his house and Sujata covered the pit with clothes and other articles.
