E-Paper
Pune man gets death penalty for sexual assault, murder of 2-yr-old
He was convicted on various counts and awarded death penalty under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
PUNE The principal district court in Pune, on Monday, sentenced a 39-year-old man to death for sexual assault and brutal murder of a two-year-five-month-old girl in February 2021. The sentence is subject to confirmation by the Bombay High Court under section 28 of the Code Of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)
The child was kidnapped on February 15, 2021 and was found in the early morning hours of February 16, 2021 in one of the three huge concrete pipes that were laid on the side of the road in a nearby Kadwe village. The case was put on fast-track on orders of superintendent of Pune rural police Abhinav Deshmukh, heard and tried within one year and 14 days of the case being registered.
The convict, Sanjay Baban Katkar, 39, is a resident of Kadwe village of Velha tehsil of Pune district, mentioned in open court when quantum of sentence was being pronounced that he committed the crime under the influence of alcohol but he should be spared owing to the life and support to his four children - two daughters and two sons.
The judge, Sanjay Deshmukh, while awarding sentence said he will make arrangements under the state government schemes to the life and education of his children.
“Accused Sanjay Baban Katkar is held guilty for the offences punishable under Sections 363 of Indian Penal Code and under Sections 4 and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012 vide Section 235(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” read the order. In explanation for not including Section 302 (murder) of IPC in the charges, the judge has further written, “Accused is not sentenced for the offences punishable under Section 302, 376(a)(b) and 376(2)(j)(m) of Indian Penal Code in view of Section 42 of POCSO 2012.”
The section of POCSO Act 2012 invoked by Judge Deshmukh states that upon been proven guilty, a person booked under the sections that carry the higher punishment will take precedence over the other laws invoked in a case where POCSO is invoked along with other laws.
“Copy of the judgement be sent to the District legal service authority (DLSA) Pune, for awarding compensation to the parents of the victim girl under the Manodharya Scheme as well as victim compensation scheme,” read a part of the order.
“Considering the brutality and how rare the case is, the entire case goes against him. There are three factors - sexual assault on an innocent child less than 3-years of age, unnatural assault (sodomy), and bite marks (on nose and elsewhere) and brutal physical assault (strangling) that led to her death,” said special public prosecutor Vilas Patare.
The defence lawyer, advocate Yashpal Purohit stated, “The accused was working (earning) and has no criminal history. The brutality has to be kept aside for a moment if the accused is remorseful.”
Assistant senior inspector Vidyadhar Dnyandeo Nichit of SP office and constable Prasat Vilas Mandake of Velha police station of Pune rural police narrated the course of the investigation which led to the discovery of the child’s body.
“The child and the accused belong to the Katkari community. So, when the man was walking with the crying child, the people in the area thought that they were together. The rickshaw driver who drove them to a chowk was one of the witnesses, the shopkeeper who sold two packets of chips to him was another, and the woman who saw the child and identified the man by the jacket of Shivaji Maharaj was another, among 17 witnesses,” said Nichit.
“The woman saw them walking on a bylane that took them away from the main street. The child was found in the pipes that were laid in this bylane,” said constable Mandake.
“The moment I heard the initial details of the case, I knew that something was wrong. I joined the search party and we found the girl the next morning. I requested the court to fast-track the case and the judge did take it on priority and it has reached its conclusion in one year. We had found the accused in Raigad when he was trying to flee. He worked in a brick kiln and his family stays elsewhere. The rickshaw driver told us that the child was sitting with some women in the rickshaw while he was sitting in the front. Once the women left the rickshaw, he went behind and took the child on his lap. Furthermore, the children with whom the minor girl was playing told us that the accused offered her ₹10. The children helped with a sketch and we found CCTV footage as well,” said Abhinav Deshmukh, superintendent of Pune rural police.
Katkar was arrested in a case registered under Sections 363, 302, 376, 376(ab), 376(a), 376(i), (j), 201 of Indian Penal Code along with Sections 3, 4, 6, and 8 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act, 2012 registered at Velha police station in February 2021.
He was convicted on various counts and awarded death penalty under section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso).
