Man gets life term for rape-murder of 17-year-old in Jawhar

A Thane district court on Monday sentenced Shankar Bhogade, 26, a farmer from Ruimata village in Jawhar, Palghar, to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a

A Thane district court on Monday sentenced Shankar Bhogade, 26, a farmer from Ruimata village in Jawhar, Palghar, to life imprisonment for raping and murdering a teenager in 2014.

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According to public prosecutor Ujjwala Moholkar, Bhogade, who was already married, was in a relationship with a 17-year-old schoolgirl in 2014. He raped her multiple times on the false promise of marriage, following which she became pregnant. Bhogade then asked the victim to consume a pill to terminate the pregnancy. However, the victim refused and insisted on marriage.

On July 20, 2014, Bhogade gave the girl a poison-laced drink, telling her that he had mixed an abortion pill in it. After consuming the drink, the girl fell drowsy. He then strangled her and hung the body from a pole using her dupatta to make it appear as a suicide, the prosecution told court. Bhogade then wrote a suicide note, blaming a third person for her ordeal and stating that the girl was ending her life by consuming poison.

The Jawhar police arrested Bhogade the next day on the basis of call records. Later, a handwriting expert proved in court that the suicide note was forged and that Bhogade wrote it.

District judge HM Patwardhan pronounced Bhogade guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 376 (rape), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and sections 4 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The judge also imposed a fine of ₹5,500 on him.

The judge held that the prosecution had proved all charges against Bhogade beyond reasonable doubt, for which he needed to be jailed.