'Murder Was Committed To Satisfy Lust': Pune Rape Convict Gets Death Sentence
'Murder Was Committed To Satisfy Lust': Pune Rape Convict Gets Death Sentence Published By, Last Updated: June 30, 2026, 15:54 IST The court said the
'Murder Was Committed To Satisfy Lust': Pune Rape Convict Gets Death Sentence Published By, Last Updated: June 30, 2026, 15:54 IST The court said the crime was "cruel, gruesome and brutal" and even the death penalty may not be adequate in the case. Rapid Read The verdict came within 60 days of the horrific crime that sparked widespread outrage and protests across Maharashtra. (Representational image) A 65-year-old man was sentenced to death for allegedly kidnapping, raping, and murdering a three-year-old girl in a village in Pune district. A special court on Monday pronounced the order, terming the case “rarest of the rare". Additional Judge S R Salunkhe said that the judicial conscience of this court leads to the irresistible conclusion that the only punishment the accused can deserve is the death sentence." Judge Salunkhe said the crime was “cruel, gruesome and brutal" and even the death penalty may not be adequate in the case. The verdict came within 60 days of the horrific crime that sparked widespread outrage and protests across Maharashtra. “The offence was committed outrageously and involved inhuman treatment and torture of the victim. The victim was an innocent, helpless child. The murder was committed to satisfy lust, which evidences total depravity. It was a cold-blooded murder without provocation. The crime was committed so brutally that it shocks not only the judicial conscience but even the conscience of society," Judge Salunkhe observed.
The Judge noted that despite stringent punishments and special courts enacted after the Nirbhaya case (of Delhi in 2012) to ensure speedy trials in crimes against children, “such incidents continue and the collective conscience of society remains shocked". The Judge said this court must keep its senses alive to hear the last scream of the child, which was loud enough, recorded in an audio-video CCTV camera. “This court shall perceive by its senses, that CCTV footage wherein that innocent child walks her small steps happily with the accused, reposing trust on him. She was eager to see the beauty of the new life of a calf. She was, however, unaware that it was going to cost her own life and it was her last journey in her life," the court remarked, The Indian Express reported. The court had convicted the accused on June 25, within sixty days of the crime, which took place on May 1. Kamble was accused of luring the minor girl with the promise of snacks and showing her a newborn calf in Nasrapur village under Bhor taluka of Pune district in western Maharashtra. He took her to a shed near a cattle barn, subjected her to sexual and unnatural assault, and subsequently murdered her by gagging her and inflicting chest injuries.
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