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Pune rape accused’s family disowns him, demands strictest punishment: ‘Kill him where he killed that child’
A 3.5-year-old girl was brutally raped and murdered by 65-year-old labourer on May 1. Postmortem hinted that the child had been gagged during the assault.
The brutal rape and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in Pune has triggered massive outrage with demands for strictest punishment being made against the accused, a 65-year-old labourer with a criminal history.
As spine-chilling details of the violent assault emerge, the accused, Bhimrao Kamble's family has publicly disowned him. His wife and son have said that he has been living separately since 2015 and that he should be sentenced to death and even his body should not be handed over to the family.
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Kamble allegedly raped and murdered the three-and-a-half-year-old girl at Narsapur in Bhor tehsil of Pune district of Maharashtra on May 1. According to the police sources, the postmortem findings indicate that Kamble allegedly gagged the victim by stuffing socks or cloth in her mouth during the assault. Injury marks were also found on the child’s chest, pointing to severe physical violence.
“As per the initial report, death was due to asphyxia,” a police official told HT earlier.
‘Crush him to death’
Amid widespread anger over the minor's rape, the wife of the accused said he should be crushed to death at the same place where he killed the child.
“He should be crushed to death at the same spot where he killed that child,” his wife was quoted as saying by the Indian Express.
The accused's wife also told mediapersons that the family had snapped ties with him for over a decade now, reported HT.
Kamble has had a criminal background and was booked on charges of molestation in 1998 and 2015 and later acquitted in both cases, according to police.
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“I will not attend his funeral, and no one should even come to inform me about it. We have not been in contact with him for 10 years. I don’t want to see his face. He should not just be hanged; he should be burnt alive. Still, it won’t cool down my raging soul," she was quoted as saying.
Kamble's son was equally infuriated over his ‘estranged’ father's inhuman act as he said that he felt shame to call him his father. He has committed an inhuman act and deserves to be killed in the same manner in which he killed that toddler,” his son was quoted as saying.
“That little girl was like my niece. She should get justice. I have 11 nieces and nephews of my own. I am deeply pained and shocked," he said, adding that the accused should be ‘punished severely’.
Maharashtra govt forms SIT
As the incident triggered massive outrage, the Maharashtra government formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday assured that the government will push for a death penalty for the accused and said the state will fast-track the trial to ensure justice in "record time".
The accused allegedly lured the girl with the promise of food and took her to a cattle enclosure where he sexually assaulted her and later killed her, according to the police.
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He was later arrested and booked under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Father's appeal for justice
The victim's father, meanwhile, made an appeal to political leaders, while seeking justice for his daughter.
The father, who said he was in Dehu to immerse his daughter's remains, requested that no condolence visits be made to his house until justice is served and the accused is given capital punishment. “We are currently in Dehu to immerse my daughter's ashes. During this time, I've been informed by relatives and friends that several politicians have been visiting our home to offer condolences etc,” he said, according to ANI news agency.
“I want to make one humble request on behalf of my family and myself until my daughter receives justice and the accused is awarded the death penalty, no politician should come to our home to meet us,” he added.
