Mumbai Crime: 7 months on, cops nail man who raped, killed eight-year-old

Representational pic

It took 200 days for 100 policemen, 15 police officers and a team of forensic experts to crack the sensational murder case of an eight-year-old girl whose body was found inside a dry well in a small hamlet, 95 kilometres from Sangli.

The investigating team had come under tremendous pressure for not being able to crack the case. The incident was even discussed during the monsoon session in Nagpur. On Saturday, the Special Metropolitan Magistrate court, Sangli, remanded a 70-year-old distant relative of the victim in custody, after he confessed to the crime.

The incident
The child lived in a small hamlet with a population of 120. Investigating Officer Appashaeb Koli said, "She was living with her grandfather, while her parents and three siblings lived in another hamlet, 70 km away." On January 7, the child went out to play in the morning and never returned. Her relatives searched for her everywhere and later registered a kidnapping case with the local police. The next day, when the police visited the hamlet, initially, they found nothing more than one of her slippers. Later, thanks to a tip from a local, the body of the child was found inside a dry well, 200 metres from the child's house. She had been strangled with her frock.

The autopsy revealed that the girl had been sexually abused and strangled to death. The police registered a case under various sections of the IPC and POSCO. Koli said, "The biggest challenge was that the accused had not left any clue nor were there any eyewitnesses. Also, no outsider could have come to such a small hamlet, as everyone would have easily identified him. Local villagers didn't co-operate either."

Suspect amidst protesters
Soon after the relatives were told about the cause of death, they started protesting against the police and demanding the arrest of the accused. Amongst those sitting at the protest was Shivaji Kale, 70, a distant relative of the child. He, too, was shouting slogans against the police. Shivaji lived just 50 metres from the child's house.

Police make headway
The police learnt that Kale had earlier molested two girls. When questioned, he told the police that on the day the child went missing, he was not in the hamlet. Even though witnesses confirmed otherwise, Kale could not be arrested because of lack of evidence. Finally, the police decided to conduct a brain mapping test at Forensic Science Laboratories in Kalina.

RR Mavle, head of toxicology and forensic psychology department, said, "We conducted the deception detection tests [polygraph and brain mapping] on the suspects." The police said, "Initially, he was inconsistent in his responses. But, finally he spilled the beans and confessed to committing the crime. He said he killed her fearing she would tell her
family about the abuse."

120
Approximate number of police and forensic experts in the team that nabbed the culprit, a distant relative living nearby

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