Alibaug sessions court on Saturday remanded to police custody a man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing a 3-year-old tribal girl. The accused, who was out on bail in a prior rape case, committed the heinous crimes during his parole on December 30, 2020.
The nerve-chilling incident took place in the Vadgaon village in Pen of Raigad district of Maharashtra. The accused, identified as 34-year-old Adesh Patil, was not represented by any advocate in the court and will remain in police remand till January 8, 2021.
The rape and murder accused Patil has been booked for another offence of rape, coupled with kidnapping, murder and other charges under the Indian Penal Code, besides additional charges under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act.
Minister of State for Home Shamburaj Desai, who rushed to the Pen town in Raigad after the incident, said the case will be handled by fast-track court and noted lawyer Ujjwal Nikam has been appointed as the Special Public Prosecutor.
Official sources indicate that the case would be dealt under the draft provisions of the recently approved Shakti Act, which provides for death penalty and stiff fines for rape, besides speeding up the probe and trial.
The horrific incident
The accused Patil had been convicted in a rape case earlier and was undergoing his punishment in Alibaug Jail, but had recently been granted parole. It was on Tuesday at 11 p.m., he espied the little girl sleeping near her parents at the small tribal hamlet of Vadgaon on the outskirts of Pen.
Patil picked up the girl, ran to a nearby isolated spot, raped and killed her and was in the process of disposing of her body around 3 am on Wednesday. However, a search party with her parents reached there and as they spotted him, he panicked and fled under cover of darkness.
Hours later around noon (Dec. 30), a police team managed to nab the parolee from his hideout and brought him to Pen.
