Latest news with #Pocso)Act
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Extensive legwork, technical leads: How Pune Rural police solved a case of rape and murder of 2-year-old girl in 48 hours
On February 15, 2021, a 25-year-old labourer from a remote village in the hilly region of the Pune district left home for work at around 9 am. The labourer was given the work to chop some large logs of wood next to a dam. Back home were his wife and three children — two daughters aged three and two, and a two-month-old son. His mother had gone to a nearby reservoir to catch fish to be sold in the local market. At around 12 pm, he got a call from a man from his village, saying his two-year-old daughter had gone missing, the police records show. A brutal rape and murder What followed was an extensive search conducted across eight villages in the area, as senior police officers also joined the operation. The police received the first lead when a rickshaw driver told them he had dropped a man and a girl of that description to a location in a neighbouring village. A woman from a neighbouring village further pointed the police in the direction where the man was seen taking the girl. A day after she had gone missing, the girl was found dead in a cement pipe next to a bridge on a road connecting two villages. Autopsy revealed that the girl had been brutally raped and murdered. The police, which had registered a kidnapping case, added the provisions related rape of minor, murder, destruction of evidence and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. After the first lead Abhinav Deshmukh, who was the superintendent of police for Pune Rural at the time, formed eight teams and launched an extensive probe. The teams started working on the preliminary description of the suspect, and combed remote hamlets in hilly regions spread across over a dozen villages. Some of these hamlets did not even have motorable approach roads. After their extensive legwork, the police received a possible location where the suspect could have been hiding. Subsequently, working on technical leads and ground-level police work, the investigation team found out that the suspect was hiding at a brick kiln on the outskirts of a village in the Mahad taluka of the state's Raigad district. Within 48 hours after registration of the case, the Pune Rural police arrested Sanjay Baban Katkar, 38, a brick kiln labourer. Katkar had been hiding in a small hut at a brick kiln on the outskirts of Nate village in Mahad. After his arrest, Katkar denied any link to the case, but confessed to the crime following sustained interrogation. He also showed the police where he had disposed of the victim's body and the location where he had dumped his jacket, which he was wearing at the time of committing the crime. The police probe showed that Katkar worked at a brick kiln near the victim's village and had kidnapped her from her house while passing through the area. During the fact-tracked trial of the case in a Special Court for Pocso cases, as many as 16 prosecution witnesses were examined along with circumstantial evidence gathered by the investigation team, including the results of DNA analysis. In the judgment pronounced in the last week of February 2022, the court sentenced Katkar to death under Section 6 of the Pocso Act. Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More
Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Indian Express
4 days after he walked out of Faridabad jail based on namesake's bail order, undertrial arrested in Patna
On Tuesday, as an official of Faridabad's Neemka jail announced the name of 24-year-old Nitesh, informing about his release on bail, another man stepped forward. A name was not the only thing the 27-year-old man shared with Nitesh; both inmates, who were undertrials in the same ward, also had the same father's name: Ravinder. Taking advantage of the mix-up, and the fact that the Nitesh the jail official was looking for was elsewhere, Nitesh Pandey managed to walk out of jail. On Saturday, Faridabad Crime Branch apprehended Pandey from Kalyanpur village in Patna, Bihar, following a tip-off. 'The two undertrials were in the same ward. Pandey had knowledge of the impending bail order for Nitesh, and the fact that the father's name of both the men were the same. When a jail official announced Nitesh's name to instruct him to step out of the ward, Pandey, taking advantage of Nitesh's absence, raised his hand, managing to get free,' a Faridabad Police spokesperson told The Indian Express on Sunday. Pandey was arrested in October 2021 for alleged sexual assault on a nine-year-old boy in Sector 58. The other Nitesh, who goes by only one name, is a resident of Shastri Colony, Faridabad, and had secured bail on May 26 in a trespassing and assault case. Pandey's fraud was discovered when his namesake, still in custody despite the bail order, inquired about his release. Records were soon examined, which revealed that Pandey had been released instead. An FIR was filed against Pandey on Wednesday at Ballabhgarh Sadar police station under sections 262 (obstructing lawful apprehension) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Pandey, hailing from Patna, was earlier booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 377 (unnatural sex), 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. His bail plea was rejected in 2022, and his trial in the case is underway. 'Undertrial prisoner Nitish Pandey … who, knowing that there are no bail papers in his name, concealed his identity and got himself released in the name of another prisoner,' the complaint by Vikram Gill, Faridabad Jail Superintendent, read. Five Neemka jail staff members were suspended on Friday for alleged lapses on their part, and face departmental proceedings. Assistant Superintendent Mohanlal, Deputy Superintendent Pradeep Tyagi, Head Constable Rajendra and wardens Sanjeev and Rajesh were suspended based on an internal investigation conducted by Jail Superintendent Harendra Singh. The inquiry report highlighted negligence on their part, following which they were suspended by the Director General of Prisons, Gill had said. The original Nitesh, meanwhile, walked out of jail on Wednesday – a day after he was supposed to be released.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Man gets life term for rape and murder of 5-year-old girl
1 2 3 Kendrapada: Ad hoc additional district and sessions-cum-fast-track special court in Jajpur on Saturday sentenced a 41-year-old scrap dealer to rigorous imprisonment for life for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2016. Judge Bijay Kumar Jena convicted the man under sections 376(2i), 302 and 201 of the IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict, with an additional six months of imprisonment if he defaults. According to the prosecution, on Jan 3, 2016, the girl visited the convict's shop to sell empty bottles. Taking advantage of her being alone, he dragged her inside, sexually assaulted her and threatened to harm her family if she revealed the crime to anyone. When the girl threatened to tell her parents, he strangled her to death and disposed of her body in a sack near the railway line. The crime came to light the following day when locals reported a foul smell emanating from a sack near the tracks. Police investigation led to the man's arrest after witnesses reported seeing him carrying a sack from his godown. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime. Special public prosecutor Rajendra Prasad Nayak said that while the prosecution pushed for capital punishment considering it a "rarest of rare" case, the court maintained that the case did not meet the criteria for death penalty. The court has directed the Odisha State Legal Services Authority to provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the deceased's mother. The verdict was based on testimonies from 35 witnesses and 15 documents, including the post-mortem report.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Principal of private nursing college in Nashik accused of molestation, arrested
Nashik: A 40-year-old principal of a private nursing college, in the Dwarka locality of Nashik city, has been arrested by the Bhadrakali police for allegedly molesting a minor student. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The police filed additional charges under the Prevention of Atrocities Act, as the victim belongs to a Scheduled Tribe, along with sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. According to police officers, the accused principal resides at Police Line Road, Pathardi, within the jurisdiction of Indiranagar police station. The authorities reported that the principal allegedly pulled the victim's "dupatta", touched her inappropriately, and solicited sexual favours repeatedly between Aug 5, 2024, and April 29, 2025. Following the initial complaint, three additional students from the same institution came forward with similar allegations. The accused appeared before a city court on Saturday and was placed in police custody for two days until Monday. Law enforcement officers indicated that separate arrests would be made for each of the four registered cases. The authorities observed that the complainants know each other, suggesting that the first complaint might have encouraged the other three students to report their experiences with the principal.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
5 Faridabad jail officials suspended over negligence in bail mixup
Five Neemka jail staff members in Faridabad were suspended on Friday for alleged lapses on their part that led to the release of the wrong prisoner on May 27. The jail authorities had inadvertently released a 27-year-old man Nitesh Pandey, accused of raping a minor boy by confusing him with another inmate who had a similar name and father's name. The second inmate Nitesh, who goes by first name, had secured bail on May 26 in a trespassing and assault case, the police said on Friday. He was arrested on May 24. Both men have fathers named Ravinder, leading to the mix-up. Action was taken against Assistant Superintendent Mohanlal, Deputy Superintendent Pradeep Tyagi, Head Constable Rajendra and wardens Sanjeev and Rajesh, based on the internal investigation conducted by Jail Superintendent Harendra Singh. The inquiry report highlighted the negligence on their part, following which they were suspended by the Director General of Prisons, Deputy Superintendent Vikram Gill told The Indian Express. The error was discovered when the second Nitesh, still in custody, inquired about his release. Records were soon examined, which revealed that Pandey had been released instead. The police launched a search for Pandey, a resident of Patna, Bihar, who was booked for unnatural sex, criminal intimidation, and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. His bail plea was rejected in 2022, and his trial was underway. A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against Pandey on Wednesday at Ballabhgarh Sadar police station under sections 262 (obstructing lawful apprehension) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Despite being charged with different offences, both individuals were housed in the same section of the jail as they were undertrial prisoners, according to the police.
