Octogenarian gets life in prison for rape and murder of 10-yr-old

Rekha had turned approver in the case.Additional Public Prosecutor Vikas Shah, who examined 10 witnesses, argued for the death sentence while defence lawyer Viraj Kakde requested the court for minimum sentence considering Kulkarni's age.

While announcing the sentence, Judge Darane said it was the rarest of the rare case but life imprisonment was awarded considering Kulkarni's age.u00a0Kulkarni raped and murdered the 10-year-old victim on October 14, 2009. The incident took place in the afternoon when Rekha had stepped out to get tiffin for the Kulkarni couple. When she returned, she was unable to find her daughter. When she climbed up to the terrace, she found her daughter lying unconscious. Rekha took her daughter to Poona Hospital, where she was declared dead upon arrival.u00a0

Investigations revealed that Kulkarni had offered Rekhau00a0Rs 50,000 and had also threatened her. Kulkarni had also asked Rekha to make the incident look like her daughter had tried to strangulate herself.u00a0Considering Kulkarni's age, it took 10 days for the Vishrambaug police to arrest him. He and Rekha had an illicit relationship.u00a0Investigations revealed that Kulkarni, who was habitual to specific drugs to boost his sexual power, used to pedal daily till the Pune railway station area to buy Viagra at a cheap rate.u00a0

The police also recovered empty tablet pouches at his residence during a search.u00a0According to the chargesheet, previous to this incident Kulkarni had molested the victim, which was objected to by Rekha. But to quell her opposition, he had raised Rekha's salary.

Mojiniraj Kulkarni pleaded not guilty in court. He told the court that being the only man present in the house when the incident took place, the police had arrested him and implicated him wrongly in the case. When the judge reminding the accused that all this had already been said before, Kulkarni said, "This is injustice."