A special court in Ahmednagar has reserved the judgement in the Kopardi rape-murder case till November 29.
On Wednesday, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, representing the State, delivered his concluding arguments in which he urged the special court to award the death sentence to the three accused – Jitendra Shinde (25), Santosh Bhaval (36) and Nitin Bhailume (26) – given the particularly gory and brutal nature of the crime that occurred on July 13, 2016.
The court session commenced at 11 a.m. with the plea of Advocate Balasaheb Khopade, who is the defence lawyer of Santosh Bhaval (“accused number two” in the case).
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“It is a highly unfortunate incident, but Santosh Bhaval has not committed the crime. Yet, he has been falsely implicated, fabricated evidence...no witness saw him leaving the crime scene,” argued Advocate Khopade.
Advocate Nikam, who began his summation following Khopade’s defence, touched upon 13 points in the crime to argue that the accused deserved capital punishment.
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He remarked that the convicted trio “remained unrepentant of their crime” before and after the tragedy.
“Jitendra Shinde [accused number one] had accosted the victim even before the day of the actual crime, engaging in improper conduct much to the mirth of Bhaval and Bhailume, who were laughing when Shinde grabbed the girl by the hand... Later, on July 13, when the victim set out on her bicycle towards her grandfather’s home, two of the accused had kept a watch on her on their bike,” Advocate Nikam said, arguing that a criminal conspiracy was hatched by the trio to rape and murder the victim between July 11 and 13.
He further argued that Shinde had shown no remorse or contrition after the crime, observing that it was “highly unlikely that Bhaval [accused no. 2] and Bhailume [accused no.3], who had actively abetted in the crime, would show signs of rehabilitation even if their sentence were mitigated”.
“Going by their disposition and behaviour, there is no guarantee that the convicted will not commit a similar crime in the future. Hence, all three deserve the death penalty,” Adv. Nikam said in court.
An eerie calm reigned in the small village of Kopardi today in anticipation of the verdict. The victim as well as the three accused hail from the same area.
On Tuesday, the defence counsel had concluded arguments for accused Shinde and Bhailume, pleading for mitigation of their sentences.
The case, which has been closely tracked by political parties and social outfits, had acquired a peculiar urgency owing to the potentially explosive nature of the crime in creating acute social divisions.
The incident has been likened to the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case in the extent of its brutality, with medical reports suggesting that violence of a particularly feral nature was inflicted on the minor victim.