Representative image with 'Stop rape' written.
Credit: iStock Photo
Mumbai: In a shocking incident of rape-muder in Mumbai's neighbouring district of Thane, a couple has been arrested even as the crime compounding into a political issue with the opposition targeting the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maha Yuti-NDA dispensation.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his son and Shiv Sena's Kalyan MP Dr Shrikant Shinde too came under sharp criticism.
After the Badlapur incident involving two minor girls of an educational institution, this issue has once again gained momentum.
In this case, the 13-year-old girl from Kalyan was reported missing on Monday and was found dead in Bhiwandi area on Wednesday.
The kidnapping of the girl sparked outrage in the locality.
While Shinde spoke to police officials in Thane for speedy action, his son met the victim's family.
The husband-wife duo - Vishal Gawli (35) and Sakshi Gawli (25) were placed under arrest on Thursday.
Vishal had kidnapped the girl while she was playing and took her to his house where he raped her and then killed her. Later, he dumped the body near a cemetary in Bhiwandi.
The Thane police reconstructed the events of the day using CCTV from multiple locations and managed to arrest him with the help of the Buldhana police.
Sakshi was arrested near her residence in Kalyan.
Vishal hid at his in-laws place in Shegaon in Buldhana from where he was picked up and brought to Kalyan and set to the Kolsewadi police station.
Investigation revealed that Sakshi is Vishal's third wife.
Vishal, a history sheeter, faces two cases of molestation and two of assault.
Reacting sharply to the incident, Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that Thane has become a hotbed of gruesome crime against women and children.