Kalyan Rape-Murder Accused Had Secured Bail Last Year In Pocso Case Citing 'Autism' 

Vishal Gawli is named as main accused in the kidnapping, rape, and murder a 13-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kalyan.

Kalyan rape-murder accused Vishal Gawli has been sent to police custody till January 2.

Source : X

The main accused in the rape and murder of a minor girl in Maharashtra's Kalyana, Vishal Gawli was charged with Pocso last year and had granted bail in the case citing autism. 

Gawli was accused of molesting a minor in the case where he was charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act last year, reported the Times of India. He produced a medical certificate showing he was autistic. 

A police officer said a probe was underway to ascertain how Gawli obtained the medical certificate. He was booked in five other cases, three of them of sexual assault. 

Vishal Gawli allegedly abducted the 13-year-old girl with the help of his wife Sakshi Gawli and killed her in the Chakki Naka area of Kalyan, the police said earlier. The couple allegedly took the body of the girl in an autorickshaw to Bapgaon on the Kalyan-Padgha road and dumped it there.

Vishal had fled to Shegaon in a bid to evade police but was nabbed while he was stepping out of a salon after shaving off his beard in order to conceal his identity. 

On Thursday, the main accused was produced in a court in Thane which remanded him to police custody till January 2. The police custody of his wife was also extended till January 2.

The motive behind the murder is not known yet, said the police, adding that 10 people have been questioned so far, including relatives and friends of the accused. 

The police are waiting for the postmortem report, said a police official earlier, adding if rape is confirmed, relevant legal sections will be added.

Additional charges of rape and offences under the POCSO Act were added against the accused after the autopsy report was received. The other charges in the FIR  sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 140(1) (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder or for ransom, etc ), 65(2) (rape in certain cases), 66 (causing death or vegetative state of the victim), 103 (murder) and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita along with POCSO offence.