Pune, August 04: A taxi driver’s urge to eat non-vegetarian food before the start of ‘Shravan’ (a holy month during which Hindus do not eat meat), led to the murder of a 12-year-old girl in Satara on July 29.
The Satara city police on Monday arrested 31-year-old Kishore alias Krishnanath Gaikwad, who strangulated Ankita Desai, 12, for not handing over her gold ornaments.
Gaikwad, who lives in ZP colony, Shahupuri, Satara, drives a taxi. He was not getting enough fare for the last couple of days due to which he was short of money. On July 29, two days before ‘Shravan’ month begins, he felt the urge to eat meat.
But since he did not have enough money, Gaikwad gave a lift to Ankita, who stayed near his house, when she was walking back home from tuitions in the evening. His plan was to take her to a secluded place and rob her of her earrings and gold chain. Every day, Ankita’s brother would pick her up from the class, but on that day he could not make it. Ankita knew Gaikwad well because she used to go to his house to play with his son. She instantly agreed to board his car.
“Instead of driving towards Shahupuri, Gaikwad took her to a lonely place and asked her to hand over her ornaments,” said inspector Dayanand Dhome of the Satara city police station. When Ankita refused, Gaikwad strangulated her with a ‘dupatta’ and dumped her body at a secluded place in Chinchani village on the Satara-Meda road. The police recovered Ankita’s body on July 30.
Inspector Dhome said, “Fearing Ankita may reveal the truth, Gaikwad decided to kill her in the car,” Dhome said. On the night of July 29, Gaikwad did not return home. On July 30, when he went home, he came to know that Ankita’s neighbours were searching her. They gave Gaikwad the girl’s photo and requested him to search for her. Gaikwad was also present during the last rites of Ankita.
During investigations, the police came to know that Ankita was last seen getting into Gaikwad’s car. “Gaikwad was taken into custody on Monday and after sustained interrogation he confessed to the crime,” Dhome said. The police found Ankita’s notebooks inside the car.
-Agencies