Mumbai's rapist-cop gets 15 years in jail

The session court in Mumbai on Thursday sentenced former head constable Chandrakant Pawar to 15 years rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 52,700 on him after he was found guilty of raping a minor girl on October 17 last year.

Additional Sessions Judge K U Chandiwal while awarding announcing imprisonment period noted since the crime is being committed by a police head constable, its impact on the society cannot be ruled out. Taking into consideration the age and status of the accused and the victim, judge passed the order and sentenced him under sections 363, 366, 376(2) and 323 of the Indian Penal Code.

In the rape charge, Pawar was convicted to a 15-year jail term along with a fine of Rs 50,000, in default of which, he will have to spend an additional year in prison.

Under IPC 363, the accused was sentenced to one year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 500. Besides this, he was sentenced to a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs 2,000 under IPC 366. He would also have to undergo a month in prison and pay a fine of Rs 200 for violating section 323 of the IPC. All four charges will be carried out concurrently, the judge observed.

While special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakre sought life sentence to the accused considering the gravity of the case -- that the crime was committed by a police head constable, Defence Counsel Anjali Patil sought a milder punishment -- reminding the court's earlier judgment with regard to Sunil More's case in which the accused had committed the crime inside the police beat-post.

She also contended that Pawar was the sole bread earner in the family.

Pawar, attached with the Sahar police station, was arrested on the charge of raping a 15-year-old rag-picker in the vicinity of the police station itself. He was caught by some local people while committing the crime and was handed over to Sahar police station, which registered a case and arrested him. Pawar was later suspended from service.

The proceedings in this case have been completed by Additional Sessions Judge K U Chandiwal in a record six months time. The trial in the case was conducted on a day-to-day basis and a total of 13 witnesses, including investigating officer, the victim and her sister had been examined.

Incidentally, in the infamous Marine Drive rape case, the same judge had sentenced former constable Sunil More to 12 years rigorous imprisonment on April three this year for raping a teenage girl inside the Marine Drive police beat-post. The sentence was delivered in less than a year of the incident, which took place on April 22 last year.