Pune, Jun 29 A special court in Pune on Monday sentenced a 65-year-old man to death for the kidnapping, brutal rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in Nasrapur village, an incident that triggered public outrage and protests in Maharashtra.
Terming the case as "rarest of the rare", Additional Judge (special judge) S R Salunkhe sentenced Bhimrao Kamble, who was present in the witness box.
As the judge pronounced the capital punishment, the family of the victim broke down in court.
Reading out the operative part of the decision, Judge Salunkhe said that the evidence clearly established aggravating circumstances in favour of the prosecution.
"The offences relate to the commission of serious crimes like murder and rape by an accused with a prior record and a substantial history of serious assault," the court observed.
The court had convicted the accused on June 25, within sixty days of the crime, which took place on May 1.
Kamble was accused of luring the young girl with the promise of snacks and showing her a newborn calf in Nasrapur village in Pune district. He took her to a shed near a cattle barn, subjected her to sexual and unnatural assault, and subsequently murdered her by gagging her and inflicting chest injuries.
"The offence was committed outrageously and involved inhuman treatment and torture of the victim. The victim was an innocent, helpless child. The murder was committed to satisfy lust, which evidences total depravity. It was a cold-blooded murder without provocation. The crime was committed so brutally that it shocks not only the judicial conscience but even the conscience of society," Judge Salunkhe noted.
The court further noted that there were no mitigating circumstances in this case, probably because they were unavailable to the accused.
"The only circumstance that could be posed is the age of the accused, 65 years. According to me, this cannot be taken as mitigating. Rather, it is aggravating," the judge said.
