Pune: BJP MLA Mahesh Landge Demands Death Penalty For Accused in Khed Teen Rape-Murder Case — All You Need To Know

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Mahesh Landge on Sunday demanded the death penalty for the accused in the Khed rape and murder case.

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the Bhosari MLA wrote, "We have demanded to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis that the murderer named Navnath Manjre, who brutally tortured and murdered a 17-year-old innocent minor girl from Manjarewadi village in Khed taluka be given the death penalty as soon as possible and that the victim girl and her family should get justice as soon as possible. This is the demand of the victim's family... and we will not sit still until our daughter gets justice!"

What is the case?

Navnath Manjre (29) has been arrested for murdering a 17-year-old girl in Manjarewadi and dumping her body in the Bhima River. The accused is currently in police custody.

According to Senior Police Inspector Prabhakar More of Khed Police Station, the victim was a student of Class 11 in a college in the Rajgurunagar area. On the morning of April 11, she had gone to the college as usual. While returning home around 11am, Manjre came on a two-wheeler. He said that he would drop her home. Saying that he wanted to water the farm, he took the girl to a sugarcane field on the banks of the Bhima River. There, he tried to rape her. When the girl resisted him, he hit her with a stone on the head. She died on the spot. Then, he dragged her body 150 feet and threw it into the river.

After killing the girl, the accused returned to the village. The next day was Hanuman Jayanti. The accused's family owns a shop in the village. The accused was selling coconuts in the shop. He told the villagers that he had heard a woman screaming near his farm, but added that he was scared and did not go there.

Later, a missing complaint was filed for the girl, and the investigation began. The accused, Manjre, was taken into custody on suspicion. During interrogation, he confessed to killing the girl.

Shockingly, the incident took place only a day before the victim's sister was about to get engaged. There was an atmosphere of joy in the house. After it was revealed that the girl was murdered, mourning spread in the village.

The girl's body was cremated in a mournful atmosphere. Heavy security was deployed in the village at this time.

The villagers have demanded strict punishment for the accused Manjre.