3 men were found guilty of a 28-year-old software engineer's gang-rape and murder in Pune 8 years ago
Highlights
- Ms Pujari was gang-raped in a car. Her dead body was found after 2-days
- The trial lasted for 3 years and saw four judges adjudicating the case.
- The crime highlighted the lack of security for women in IT, BPO sectors
Three men found guilty of 28-year-old software engineer Nayana Pujari's gang-rape and murder in Pune eight years ago, were sentenced to death today. Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam were convicted of kidnapping and killing Nayana Pujari, who was attacked on her way home on October 7, 2009.
A fourth accused was acquitted after he turned approver.Ms Pujari worked at an IT firm and was kidnapped when she was waiting for a ride at the Kharadi bypass.
Her body was found two days later in the forests nearby.
The prosecution told the court that Ms Pujari was gang-raped in a car. She was also robbed of the cash that she had withdrawn from an ATM earlier that evening. She was strangled and her head as smashed.
During the trial, Yogesh Raut, the main accused, escaped from the Sassoon General Hospital while being escorted for treatment. He was, however, arrested from Shirdi 20 months later.
The prosecution said this was a fit case for the 'rarest of rare' category.
Some 37 prosecution witnesses were examined during the trial.
Ms Pujari's husband Abhijit Pujari, who was present along with her sister Manisha Ganbavle, also demanded death penalty for all the three convicts
The trial lasted for three years and saw four judges adjudicating the case.
The brutal crime brought to the fore the lack of security for women working in the IT and BPO sectors.