Chandrakant Pawar was on Thursday sentenced to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old rag-picker.
Nine months after he raped a 15-year-old rag-picker near Sahar Airport terminal, ex-constable Chandrakant Pawar was on Thursday sentenced to 15 years’ rigorous imprisonment for the crime.
Sessions Judge KU Chandiwal asked Pawar to pay a compensation of Rs52,500 to the victim for kidnapping and raping her on October 17, 2005. The incident occurred within six months of the infamous Marine Drive rape—a 17-year-old girl was raped in a police chowky by on-duty constable Sunil More.
The same judge had conducted More’s trial and sentenced him to 12 years’ rigorous imprisonment. Public prosecutor Raja Thakare had asked Judge Chandiwal to sentence Pawar to life imprisonment, stating, “A man who rapes a victim one-third his age must be severely punished. If this rapist is in uniform and uses his authority to commit this ghastly crime, no punishment is too severe.”
Medical evidence in the case corroborated the victim’s statement. Semen stains found on the victim’s clothes matched the ones found on Pawar’s underwear. Also, the semen matched Pawar’s blood group. Pawar was arrested on the night of the incident after he was rounded up by Airport Authority of India (AAI) employee Satyen Nair, who saw him holding the victim. “Pawar abused me and tried to shoo me off. I caught him with the help of some auto-rickshaw drivers and handed him over to the police,” said Nair.
Investigating officer Vinayak Saude, who wrapped up the investigations within a month, said, “Pawar shamelessly offered his police identity card to one of the witnesses as a guarantee against payment of Rs15,000 as bribe. He has shamed us all into silence,” said Saude. Mohan Ukirde, the witness whom Pawar had tried to bribe, told DNA, “I asked Pawar to give the money to the girl, who does not have any clothes, or any place to stay.”
Pawar’s lawyer Anjali Patil said they would appeal against the “grossly severe” sentence. “Sunil More, who raped the victim inside the chowky where he was posted on duty, was sentenced to only 12 years. Pawar has not defiled his office, and yet has to serve three years more than More,” she said.
‘Rape was never proved in court’
Chandrakant Pawar burst out in anger as soon as he stepped out of the Sessions courtroom on Thursday. “The judge says so, but rape was never proved in court,” he said. “The girl declared in open court that she knew nothing about rape or ‘balatkar’. She said that her mother made her file the police complaint,” he said.
In the half hour following the verdict, Pawar’s moods changed from rebelliousness to indignation to reproachful, followed by extreme self-pity. Overwhelmed by the 15-year jail term, Pawar said he did not deserve such severity. He said that he would appeal against the conviction. Pawar said, “Sunil More was sentenced for 12 years, why should I be given 15?”
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