Massive protests blocked the streets and the Naval bridge in Pune after the brutal rape and murder of a 4-year-old
Villagers and relatives of the victims staged the protest early on Sunday after carrying the victim's body in an ambulance. The protests had created a traffic jam that lasted hours.
Police had to resort to using force to clear the bridge in the morning,
Traffic returned to normal after the Pune commissioner reassured the crowd that the severest punishment would be handed to the accused.
Meanwhile, the victim's parents have demanded that the Chief Minister of the state reassure them that the accused will be given the death penalty. They also said that a fair trial should be held.
The parents said that the accused, who was jailed in 2019 for the rape of his niece, was released after he had just spent six months in jail. He also had a separate case filed against him in 1998.
On May 1, a 65-year-old, Bhimrao Prabhakar Kamble, raped and murdered a 4-year-old in Nasrapur in the Bhor Taluk region. The girl had come to stay with her grandmother for the holidays. The man had lured the victim into a cattle shed and then, after the rape and murder, hid the body under cow dung.
When the girl was found missing in the afternoon, her family began a search in the area.
CCTV footage from the area shows the accused leading the child away.
The cremation and final rites for the child were held at the Vaikunth crematorium in Pune under police protection.