States » WestPosted at: Oct 16 2026 9:53PM


Dongrale minor sexual assault case: Court awards death penalty

Nashik, Oct 16 (UNI) A court has sentenced an accused to death in the case involving the sexual assault of a minor girl in Dongrale, upholding the arguments presented by the prosecution.
Reacting to the verdict, Special Public Prosecutor Advocate Ujjwal Nikam expressed his satisfaction with the court’s decision while addressing the media. He also outlined the key arguments presented by the prosecution during the trial that contributed to the outcome.
Advocate Nikam explained that when the prosecution seeks the death penalty in a criminal case, it is crucial to establish the extreme brutality and gravity of the crime.
He stated that he had presented a comparative chart before the court, weighing the aggravating circumstances of the crime against the mitigating factors put forward by the defence. The prosecution argued that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating factors, demonstrating the severity of the offence.
The defence had cited the accused’s young age, poverty and lack of education as grounds for consideration. However, Advocate Nikam strongly countered these arguments, stating that poverty or illiteracy cannot reduce the seriousness of a crime.
“Being uneducated or poor does not lessen the gravity of the offence. This incident demonstrates that even an uneducated person can commit extremely serious and heinous crimes,” he argued before the court.
The judge accepted the prosecution’s arguments and evidence, including the comparative assessment of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and sentenced the accused to death.
Expressing satisfaction with the verdict, Advocate Nikam said the court’s decision had delivered justice to the victim and her family. Education Minister Dada Bhuse was also present in court during the proceedings.
The fast-track court sentenced the 24-year-old accused, Vijay Khairnar, to death for the brutal November 2025 abduction, sexual assault, and murder of a four-and-a-half-year-old girl in Dongrale village of Nashik district. The court classified the offence under the "rarest of rare" category.
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