Pune: Decade-Long Wait for Justice! Rapist Sentenced to 10 Years of Hard Labour After 9-Year Legal Battle

Pune: In the rape case of a specially abled child, a 59-year-old murderer was convicted after almost 9 years, sentenced to 10 years in hard labour jail, and ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 rupees. District Sessions Judge, D. P. Ragit, convicted the 59-year-old murderer after the testimony of the victim girl.

The accused, who was sentenced to 10 years in jail, has been identified as Pratap Babanrao Bhosure, a resident of Dhanore village, Taluka Shirur, District Pune. In this regard, the victim girl’s mother filed a complaint at Shikrapur police station in 2015.

On May 18, 2015, the victim girl had taken goats to the forest for grazing. At that time, the accused, Bhosure, lured the victim and took her to a secluded place in the forest, where she was forcibly raped by the accused. After this, the girl became pregnant. The victim’s mother then immediately filed a police complaint in this regard at Shikrapur police station.

In the police investigation, police apprehended the accused, and since then, the accused has been in Yerawada Jail for the last eight years and 11 months.

Advocate Leena Pathak appeared in court on behalf of the government. In this case, the court recorded the testimony of nine witnesses. Further, the victim girl’s testimony was also recorded in court through a camera. After taking into account the testimony as well as the medical evidence, the court sentenced the accused to ten years of hard labour and a fine of Rs 10,000. Also, if the fine is not paid, a provision for one-year punishment has been made in the judgement.

The then Assistant Police Inspector of Shikrapur Police Station, Hemchandra Khopde, investigated the matter. Whereas, Police Constables Vidyadhar Nichit, S. B. Bhagwat, and Gyandev Sonwane assisted in the court proceedings.