Kopardi Rape-Murder Case: Maharashtra Court awards ‘death sentence’ to all three convicts

Ahmednagar, November 29: On Wednesday, the Ahmednagar District & Sessions court sentenced all convicts – Jitendra Shinde, Nitin Bhailume, and Santosh Bhaval – to death on charges of murder, conspiracy and sexual assault. Over a year after a 15-year-old girl was brutally tortured, raped and murdered in Kopardi in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, family members of the minor finally received justice.

 

The court had on November 18, held main accused Jitendra Babubal Shinde alias Pappu (21) and co-accused Santosh Gorakh Bhaval (29) and Nitin Bhailume (28) guilty in the case.

During the 11 month investigation trial, the prosecution examined 31 witnesses and concluded that while the prime accused, Jitendra Shinde, raped and murdered the minor, the two accomplices, Nitin Bhailume and Santosh Bhaval, conspired with him.

The incident took place on July 13, 2016, when a 15-year-old school girl belonging to Maratha community was brutually gang-raped, mutiliated and killed. This sparkled a major casteist and political furore in Maharashtra. The girl was out to fetch some spices from her grandmother’s home in the same village. When the crime came to light late, it sparked off widespread condemnation and protests across the state with Maratha groups demanding capital punishment for the accused. Massive protest by the Maratha community had erupted across Maharashtra after the incident, demanding capital punishment for all three.