Three years after a Thane court awarded death penalty to a man for raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl, the Bombay HC sent the case back to it on account of procedural lapses. A bench of justices B P Dharmadhikari and P D Naik set aside the trial court's order awarding Atul Rama Lote death penalty. It asked the trial court to reconsider the evidence and decide whether to hold a retrial or proceed anew from framing of charges stage.

On September 28, 2016, the Thane court awarded Lote death sentence. He was accused of abducting, raping and killing the minor daughter of an acquaintance in 2014. When the state government's petition seeking confirmation of death sentence was taken up by the HC, Lote's lawyer Yug Chaudhary pointed out certain lapses. In February 2014, the police charge-sheeted Lote under Sections 363, 366 (A) (kidnapping a woman), 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, Chaudhary said.