Pune Man Sentenced to 25 Years for Kidnapping and Gang Rape of Two Sisters

Pune, 6th August 2024: A special court in Pune has sentenced a 30-year-old resident of Warje to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment for the kidnapping and repeated gang rape of two sisters, aged 16 and 14 at the time, in April 2015.

Senior Police Inspector Nilkanth Jagtap, the lead investigator in the case, confirmed on Monday that the crime also involved two juveniles, who were charged separately by the Juvenile Justice Board and subsequently released on bail from the observation home.

“The convict’s brother, who assisted in the crime by providing financial and logistical support, was a fugitive for nine years before his arrest on May 4 this year. A supplementary chargesheet was filed against him,” Jagtap said.

Special Judge S.R. Salunkhe convicted the main accused, who was 21 years old at the time of the crime, under sections 5 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, related to aggravated sexual assault. The accused was also found guilty of offenses under sections 3 and 4 of the POCSO Act, which pertain to sexual assault, and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Additionally, the court convicted the main accused under sections 363 and 366 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping with intent to confine, as well as sections 376(2)(g)(i) for gang rape, 377 for unnatural offenses, 323 for causing hurt, and 506 for criminal intimidation. The judge sentenced the accused to terms ranging from five to seven years for these offenses, which will run concurrently with the main sentence of 25 years’ rigorous imprisonment.

The court has released the operative part of its judgment, with the full text expected to be available later.

Special Public Prosecutor Nitin Konghe stated, “We presented 11 witnesses, including the two minor survivors, and relied on medical evidence and testimonies from key witnesses, including social workers who recorded the girls’ statements. We argued that the nature of the crime was heinous and required a proportionate sentence to convey a strong message to society.”

Konghe added, “We emphasized that the offense was not only severe but also a threat to societal norms, and a stringent sentence was necessary.”

The prosecution’s case revealed that the father of the victims had sent his daughters to his maternal uncle’s home in Warje Malwadi while he was away. On the night of April 4, 2015, the main accused, his brother, and two minor accomplices lured the girls with promises of marriage before abducting them on motorcycles. A missing persons report was filed shortly thereafter.

Following the investigation, police rescued the girls and arrested the main accused and the two minors on May 2, 2015, from a residence in Tandulwadi village, Solapur district. The investigation uncovered that the accused and the minors first assaulted the girls on Rimtek Hill in Bhivadi and subsequently continued their assault over a month in Tandulwadi.