Four-year-old girl sexually assaulted and murdered in Pune district; 65-year-old labourer held
Pune (PTI): A four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and murdered allegedly by a 65-year-old labourer with a criminal background, who has been arrested amid outrage and protest over the incident in Maharashtra's Pune district, police said on Saturday.
A senior police officer assured the protesting villagers that a chargesheet will be filed within 15 days and the case will be tried in a fast-track court.
The incident occurred in a village in Bhor tehsil on Friday.
"The accused allegedly lured the child with the promise of food and took her to a shed in a cattle enclosure, where he sexually assaulted her and killed her," a police official said.
When the girl went missing, her relatives began looking for her. During the search, CCTV footage from a private residence captured the accused with the child, leading to his arrest.
A case has been registered against the accused under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The incident triggered outrage in the area, with hundreds of villagers rushing to a police chowki and demanding stern action against the accused.
They staged a blockade on the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway.
Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill assuaged the villagers that a chargesheet will be filed within 15 days and the trial will be held in a fast-track court.
"The accused has a criminal history, with cases registered against him in 1998 and 2015. He was subsequently acquitted in both instances. He is a labourer and typically wanders around the village and occasionally takes up jobs," he told reporters.
Terming the incident "extremely outrageous", former Maharashtra home minister and NCP (SP) leader Anil Deshmukh on Saturday demanded a death sentence for the accused.
He accused the state and Central governments of passing the buck on each other on implementing the proposed Shakti Act to curb sexual crimes.
"How do such criminals roam freely in society? When I was the Home Minister during the Maha Vikas Aghadi government's tenure, we approved the Shakti Act, which is pending final approval from the Central Government.
"When there is an urgent need for this law in the state, the Centre and the state government are passing the buck to each other instead of implementing it and wasting time," he said.
Alleging that atrocities on women and girls are on the rise in Maharashtra, Deshmukh said the Devendra Fadnavis-led government is not serious about enforcing the stringent Shakti Act.
"Had this strong law been in force, this monster (the accused) would have received the death penalty within 15 days," he said.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also heads the Home department, had said that the Shakti Bill was passed by the state legislature in 2020 and sent to the Centre for the President’s assent. He said the President subsequently sent it back.
The Maharashtra legislative council in March 2026 unanimously passed the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill 2026 to include provisions in the Shakti Bill to protect the identities of acid attack victims and ensure jail terms for online sexual overtures.
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Man arrested for duping Delhi resident of Rs 2 lakh in online car sale fraud
New Delhi (PTI): Police have arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly duping a Delhi resident of Rs 2 lakh on the pretext of selling a second-hand car online, an official said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Aman Sethi, a resident of Shiv Puri Extension in east Delhi, allegedly impersonated an employee of a reputed online car sale platform to gain the victim's trust, the police said.
The case came to light after a complaint was lodged by Harish, a resident of Trilokpuri, following which an FIR was registered on April 16 under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sethi was arrested on Friday.
According to the complainant, the accused contacted the victim and offered to sell a second-hand car. He allegedly convinced him to transfer Rs 2 lakh as booking and processing charges.
After receiving the money, the accused neither delivered the vehicle nor refunded the amount and stopped responding to calls.
A police team conducted a detailed financial and technical investigation and traced the money trail to a bank account in the accused's name.
"Analysis of KYC details, account activity and digital footprints helped identify the suspect," a senior police officer said.
The police said the accused had vacated his known address and was evading arrest, but was eventually tracked down through technical surveillance and local intelligence after multiple raids in Delhi-NCR.
During interrogation, Sethi allegedly tried to mislead investigators but was confronted with evidence and subsequently arrested. Further probe revealed his involvement in a similar cheating case registered at the Krishna Nagar police station, indicating a pattern of such offences.
The police said the accused targeted people searching for second-hand cars online by posing as an employee of vehicle sale platforms, sharing photographs and details of vehicles, and demanding advance payments in personal bank accounts.
Two debit cards, two mobile phones and SIM cards allegedly used in the offence have been recovered from his possession, the police added.
