A Pune court on Tuesday awarded death penalty to two persons in the sensational rape and murder case of a 22-year-old BPO employee Jyotikumari Choudhary, saying that the crime was “premeditated” and “executed in a heinous manner to satisfy lust”.
The incident had sent shockwaves in Pune and the IT industry and had raised series concerns over the safety of women. The victim who was travelling in a drop car hired by the company was raped and killed by the car driver, Purushottam Borate (30), and his friend Pradip Kokade on November 1, 2007.
As per the investigations, prime accused Borate had picked up the victim from her residence to drop her at office located at Hinjewadi IT park area for her night shift.
However, Jyotikumari was kidnapped, raped and killed at a secluded spot. Jyotikumari’s body was found at Wadgaon, off the Mumbai-Pune Expressway that lies on the outskirts of Pune, the next day. The arrests were made the day after the body was found. Jyotikumari hailed from Gorakhpur and was living with her sister and brother-in-law in Pune.
District and sessions court judge Anant Badar in his order observed that the crime was premeditated and sheer lust had driven the accused to rape and murder the innocent girl.
Dismissing the plea of the defence for a lenient punishment, the judge observed that the crime is series in nature and termed the case as “rarest of the rare”. The duo were pronounced guilty on Saturday by a Pune court. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, while arguing for death sentence in the case, on Monday had cited the brutality of the rape and murder and its impact on the society. Mr Nikam had stated that the young innocent woman was first raped and later strangulated. Furthermore, the accused did not stop there and went ahead to slit her wrist and even tried to bludgeon the face to suppress identity.
“Jyoti will not come back but this is a landmark judgment and will act as a deterrent,” said a relative.