Kopardi rape case: Court to decide punishment

The Defence on Tuesday initiated with its arguments on the quantum of punishment which the court will award the three men who were held guilty by the Ahmednagar Session's court for their involvement in the rape and murder case of a 15-year-old girl from Kopardi, last year. The court on November 18 held the three guilty on charges of rape and murder. The defence advocate pleaded the court to award with minimum punishment for the convicts.

Advocate Prakash Aher, who was appearing on behalf of accused Nitin Bhailume, in his argument, held that the convict belongs to a poor family and is the only breadwinner. "Nitin has no criminal history and it was accepted by the prosecution that Nitin was not linked with the rape, however, his involvement was shown in the molestation act. Thus, we would like to request the court to award him with minimum punishment," said Aher.

The argument for the other accused will be heard on Wednesday. The prosecution is also expected to initiate its arguments on the quantum of sentence, on Wednesday, after which the court is likely to pass its final verdict.

The court held that the evidence was concrete and helped in convicting the accused. The three convicts are Jitendra alias Pappu Shinde, Santosh Bhawal and Nitin Bhailume. They were held guilty under the charges of conspiracy, abetment, molestation.