On behalf of Ganimikava Yuva Seva Sanghatna, a protest was held near Padmavati Chowk on Satara Road, in which a effigy was burned, demanding strict punishment for the accused in the rape-murder case of a 3-year-old child. (Express Photo By Pavan Khengre)To investigate the rape and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in a village in Pune district, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Pune Rural police comprising six officers led by a woman Senior Inspector has been constituted. Senior officials said the SIT will prioritise collecting and analysing medical and technical evidence to build the case. A chargesheet is expected to be filed soon.A 65-year-old man is now in the custody of Pune Rural Police for the kidnap, rape, murder and sexual abuse of the girl. The girl’s family lives in Pune city and at the time of the incident she was visiting her grandmother’s house. The incident came to light on Friday after the girl who had left her grandmother’s house to play outside did not return home.A probe revealed that when the girl was playing near a local temple, the accused lured her and took her to a cowshed. He then raped the girl, killed her with a stone, and dumped her body in cow dung at the spot, the police have said based on the investigation. CCTV footage revealed the accused had taken the girl with him around 3.15 pm. The girl’s body was found in the cowshed and the accused too was caught.“Considering the sensitive nature of the case, a Special Investigation Team has been constituted. This SIT will comprise six officers and supporting constabulary staff and will be led by a woman officer Senior Inspector rank. The nature of the case is such that the medical and technical evidence is crucial. This evidence is being collected. All necessary forensics and digital forensics analysis is being done. Meanwhile a part of the team has been assigned the task to work on filing a chargesheet. We expect that the chargesheet will be filed as soon as the case is slated to be tried in a fast track manner. A communication is awaited from the government on the process of appointment of a Special Public Prosecutor,” said a senior police officer.Speaking to the media in Nagpur on Sunday, Chief Minister Devendra said, “I spoke to the father of the victim twice yesterday. I have told him that our aim will be to ensure the perpetrator is given capital punishment. For that, it is important that the chargesheet is filed on time and there is timely prosecution. For this purpose we are seeking direction from the High Court for the conduct of these processes on a fast track basis.Our effort will be completed in record time. There might be strong public sentiment that the perpetrator be hanged in public, but in the democratic system, we have to follow all legal procedures. We will ensure nobody takes undue advantage of these legal processes and for that it is important that investigation and prosecution is done without any loopholes. The state government will take all possible effort to seek death sentence for the perpetrator.”“This is a very serious incident and the outrage of citizens is also not wrong. Unfortunately some people were trying to give the outrage an uncalled angle. “I sincerely thank the victim’s father who understood the situation and sought for the protests to be called off after discussion with the commissioner of police. We will stand behind this family with all strength,” Fadnavis added.When asked about past offences and acquittals, Fadnavis said, “His past offences will be looked into and we will check if there were any lapses.”Story continues below this adMeanwhile on Sunday, a bandh was observed in two talukas of Pune district including the one where the incident took place. Considerable police force was deployed in the area to maintain law and order, officials said.Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:pune