E-Paper
Mental illness led him to murder stepbrother, says accused who killed 8-year-old in Pune
Dnyaneshwar Varle was produced in front of the chief judicial magistrate of Pune after spending a day in the Vimantal police custody.
A 30-year-old man, accused of murdering his 8-year-old step brother, argued in court that he had a mental condition which led him to commit the crime.
Dnyaneshwar Varle was produced in front of the chief judicial magistrate of Pune after spending a day in the Vimantal police custody. When the local judge asked him why did he do it, he calmly responded saying, “I’m undergoing treatment for a mental condition. I did not take my medicine, got excited and lost control. Madam, I could not understand what I was doing.”
Varle killed his step-brother Raghunath Varle by repeatedly hitting him with an axe, which was found by the police, on Tuesday. When the judge asked what had the little boy done to him, he kept repeating that he could not understand what he was doing.
The incident happened in the Air Force married quarters in Lohegaon where Dnyaneshwar’s father and complainant in the case, Pandhurang Varle, 74, lives.
The accused has submitted mental illness treatment-related documents for the past four years to the police. However, while speaking to the police, he claimed that he has been getting treatment for the past 8 years. Assistant police inspector Prataprao Kolte claimed that he was out on parole from the mental asylum.
“He had come home only in August and was supposed to return to the mental facility on October 10,” API Kolte said.
“In such cases, the court generally asks for an evaluation of the person’s mental condition. The police have done their part in the case. It will now be the court’s decision whether to absolve him of charges or not,” said senior police inspector Sanjay Naik Patil.
The 30-year-old, who appeared alone in the court, was taken to the Yerawada mental asylum.