Man nailed in 2-yr-old rape, murder case

The Sola police on Sunday arrested a man in connection with the rape and murder of a woman. The incident happened in 2010, when one Pooja Nayak, a resident of Gota Housing Board, died after her dupatta got stuck in the wheel of the vehicle on which she was riding pillion. At that time her colleague Rakesh Jadhav, 30, had claimed that he was on his way to drop her home when her dupatta got caught in the wheel of his bike strangulating her.

The Sola police had registered a case of accidental death. But Nayak’s mother had moved several petitions before various officials stating that her daughter was murdered. Sola police arrested Jadhav on Sunday for Nayak’s murder. They said that the FSL and post-mortem report of Nayak had pointed to murder. Sources said the reports also talked about her being raped. Further forensic evidence proved that it was Jadhav who had raped her, said police sources.

They said that on the day of the incident, Nayak was to visit her friend Dhara. Jadhav then called her up as both of them worked for the same company, Solution Service Data Entry. He offered to drop her home and she accepted. “But when they neared Shilaj Road, Jadhav first raped her and then strangulated her with a nylon rope, killing her. He then took her dupatta and put it around the wheel of the bike,” said Sola police. The source said he then called up Nayak’s friend who first rushed her to a private hospital and then to a government hospital where they declared her brought dead.