Mumbai: In a shocking case, the Pune Police have arrested a 54-year-old man for the alleged kidnapping, rape and murder of two minor girls in the Rajgurunagar area of the city. The man, identified as Ajay Das, is accused of committing the heinous crime with the two siblings aged nine and eight before he absconded.
According to Pune Police, the incident took place on Wednesday around 12.30 pm, when the two girls playing outside their home went missing. The parents were searching for the girls in the vicinity but failed to trace them. Later, they approached the Khed Police Station, which registered first an FIR of kidnapping. The Khed Police launched a search operation to trace the duo girls but did not get any clues.
A police officer said that the Khed police carried out the search in the building where the victims lived with their family. They discovered the bodies of the both girls in a huge drum filled with water inside the room of Das, who is their neighbour. “The duo’s bodies were found upside down in the drum. Their heads were down and the feet were up indicating the murder by forcible drowning,” a source said
A senior police officer said that the bodies of the girls were sent to Sassoon Hospital in Pune for post-mortem. The rape was confirmed with a one girl. When asked why Das had killed the second girl, the senior police officer said she started screaming and therefore the accused killed both of them.
The police apprehended Das from his hideout in a shady lodging house early hours on Thursday as he was packing up and preparing to flee out of Maharashtra.
Speaking with this newspaper, Additional SP Pune Ramesh Chopade confirmed that one of the girls was sexually assaulted. “We have arrested the accused, who has admitted his offence,” Mr. Chopade said.
The police have registered a case against the accused man at a police station in Pune district under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. Das, who hails from West Bengal and worked as a cook in a small eatery, will be produced before a court on Friday.
Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council, Neelam Gorhe said that the culprit in the rape case of Pune should be awarded capital punishment. She said that a speedy trial should be conducted in this case as the girls are minors. She would visit Rajgurunagar on Friday to meet the victim’s family.
Sanjay Kadam, national president of VJNT (Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes) said the girls belonged to the Gosavi community. He demanded Rs 25 lakh compensation for the family of the victims and the accused should be killed in the “police encounter” like the Hyderabad police had done in a rape case.
