Thane court gives death sentence to two rapists

The Thane Sessions court has awarded death sentence to two youths who gang-raped two women in May 2012. The accused had also threatened them with knife. The court presided over by judge S Khalipe upheld the arguments advanced by the prosecution that the case is a rare one and that the accused deserve capital punishment. 

Chief public prosecutor Sangeeta Phad said, “The crime committed by the accused was a gruesome one. They raped two women. They even stabbed them with knife with an intention of killing them. However, one of them survived and it is because of her that the prosecution was successful in proving the guilt and is seeking for capital punishment for the accused.”

According to the prosecution, accused Rahimuddin Shaikh alias Baba (29) and Sandeep Shirsat alias Raghu Rokda (25) asked the two rag-pickers, who were begging for alms, to accompany them in a rickshaw on the false promise of offering a job. The accused took the rickshaw on Mumbai-Pune Highway and stopped the rickshaw near Juinagar Bridge and left it. They took the women to a tunnel and raped them. The accused then stabbed the two with knife.

A passerby noticed the survivor in pain and called the police. The woman was immediately moved to a hospital for medical assistance.