MUMBAI: Three men, including a habitual offender, accused for rape and murder of a software engineer in Pune in 2009 were convicted by a special court on Monday. The fourth accused turned an approver in the case.
Yogesh Raut, Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam were convicted by the court for the rape and murder of Nayana Pujari ( 28). Rajesh Chaudhary, who was found to have committed the crime but not murdered her, turned approver.
The court is expected to hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on Tuesday.
The software engineer, who worked at a firm in Pune’s Kaharadi area was abducted on October 7, 2009, and her body was recovered two days later from Zarewadi forest on the Pune-Nashik highway.
Yogesh Raut, a security guard from her firm and a habitual offender, abducted her on the pretext of offering her a lift.
He later picked up Mahesh Thakur and Vishwas Kadam before committing the crime in the evening, according to the prosecution.
Instead of going towards her house in Katraj, they drove towards Rajgurunagar and threatened her with dire consequence and hurt her with a sharp weapon.
The trio then committed the crime and were joined by approver Rajesh Chaudhary, who was following them on a bike. They also robbed her of Rs 61,000 using her ATM card.
She was in the car for over six hours before being murdered. In a bid to destroy evidence, her face was battered using a huge boulder.
Yogesh Raut was caught in 2013 after escaping police custody in 2011.