Last year when he was posted in Panvel, Additional Sessions Judge K G Paldewar had awarded life sentence to Police Inspector Abhay Kurundkar in the high-profile Assistant Police Inspector Ashwini Bidre murder case that had also stirred people’s conscience and garnered nation-wide media attention
On October 16, 2026, the court of Additional Sessions Judge K G Paldewar awarded death sentence to accused Shekhar alias Vijay Sanjay Khairnar (24) of Dongrale village, around 30 km north of taluka headquarters of Malegaon. The court also awarded a monetary compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim 4-year old girl’s family.
In the fateful afternoon of November 16 last year, the accused had lured the innocent girl playing outside her home with her “five-six male childmates” as it was a Sunday. The accused with an “intention of committing the brutal and barbaric crime” had approached “specifically the girl child” and took her away on his shoulders with a false promise of buying her chocolates.
At around 3.15 pm, the child was last seen alive with the accused and after that she had gone missing and in the evening at around 6.30 pm her bruised body was found inside the 65 x 65 feet compound of a mobile tower, just 15 feet behind the accused’s house. On October 7, the court had reserved its orders for deciding the quantum of sentence.
The crime is committed so brutally that it shocked not only the judicial conscience but even the conscience of the society.
Before pronouncing the death sentence, the court factored in reports submitted by Psychiatrist at Nashik Civil Hospital, Jail Superintendent of the Nashik Road Central Prison and the Probationary Officer. In its 206-page judgment, the court observed that the case falls in the rarest of rare case while coming to the conclusion that the aggravating circumstances clearly outweigh the mitigating circumstances. The court cited various laws of the land — past judgements of the Supreme Court — that act as torch-bearers in the criminal justice system.
For its readers, The Voice of Malegaon reproduces a compilation of a few powerful quotes from Friday’s judgment that underscore why the death sentence was awarded. Here are some observations made by the court:
JUDGES SHOULD NOT HESITATE TO USE THE SWORD OF JUSTICE WITH THE UTMOST SEVERITY IF THE GRAVITY OF OFFENCE DEMANDS SO
Devastating effects on society
Any leniency to the accused for his barbaric and dastardly act will have devastating effects on society. At this junction, it is worthwhile to quote the observation made by the Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Madan Gopal Kakkad Vs. Naval Dube, (1992) 3 SCC 204, that – Judges who bear the sword of justice should not hesitate to use that sword with the utmost severity, to the full and to the end if the gravity of the offence so demands.
No justification for life sentence
“In the present case, there is not even a hint of hesitation with respect to the aggravating circumstances outweighing the mitigating circumstances. There is no justification to sentence the accused to life imprisonment for the rest of the life. The accused may not be a hardened criminal but the cruel manner in which present crime was committed and coldness with which the body of the victim was thrown shocked the collective conscience of the society.”
Crime calamitous
The barbaric act of the accused does not remotely show any concern for the precious life of a young minor child who had really not seen life. The criminality of the conduct of the accused is not only depraved and debased, but can have a menacing effect on the society. It is calamitous.
The crime test – rape violates bodily integrity
The crime in the present case is one that society abhors with every fiber of its being. A rape is a crime that violates the bodily integrity and dignity of a woman. It is not merely a crime against an individual but a crime against the society. The Hon’ble Apex Court in Maheboob Batcha has held that crimes against women are not ordinary crimes committed in hit of anger or for property. They are social crimes. They disrupt the entire social fabric and hence they call for harsh punishment.
Threat to society if accused not punished properly
The present crime committed by the accused is in diabolical manner and it leaves one startled as to the pervert mental state of the inflictor. On top of it, after sexual assault on the victim, the body of victim was thrown half naked with multiple grievous injuries in a isolated closed premises of mobile tower. The brazenness and coldness with which the acts were committed reflects the threat to which the society would be posed to, in case the accused is not appropriately punished.
Object of POCSO Act — no leniency to barbaric perpetrators
At this stage, it is significant to cite the Scheme and Object of POCSO Act 2012 relying on the observation of Hon’ble Apex Court in the case of Nawabuddin Vs. State of Uttarakhand in Criminal Appeal No.144 of 2022 dated 18.02.2022, wherein it is held that –
“By awarding a suitable punishment commensurate with the act of sexual assault, sexual harassment, a message must be conveyed to the society at large that if anybody commits any offence under the POCSO act of sexual assault, sexual harassment or use of children from pornographic purposes, they shall be punished suitably and no leniency shall be shown to them.”
SPP Adv Ujjwal Nikam led the prosecution, SPP Adv Sanjay Sonawane assisted him, Adv Harshal Tiwari and Adv Sneha Sharma represented the victim’s family, Adv Nilesh Rathi was LADC to the accused. PI Pritam Chaudhari, API Preeti Savanji, PSI Kale, HC Ugale, LPC Patil, and their team conducted a through investigation and had filed the chargesheet in just 21 days
