Image used for representation purposes. |Picture source: S. Subramanium
Police say
Police said a man has been charged with raping and murdering a minor girl in Kalyan town in Thane, allegedly died in Taloja Central prison near Navine Mumbai on Sunday (April 13, 2025).
They said the defendant Vishal Gawli (35) was found hanging in a prison toilet around 3.30 a.m.
Gawli went to the toilet and allegedly hanged himself with a towel. An official from the Halger Police Department said prison authorities later found the body.
Local police were informed immediately Panchnama (On-site inspection) was carried out.
The body was taken to a government-run JJ hospital in neighboring Mumbai for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of the death, the official said.
Gawli is accused of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in the Kalyan area of Maharashtra in December 2024.
The incident sparked widespread anger and demanded prompt and strict punishment for the perpetrators.
Officials earlier said the child disappeared from the Kolsewadi area on December 24 and the body was later found in the village of Bapgaon in the rural police jurisdiction of Thana State.
The investigation by the Colsevadi Police Department led to the arrest of Gawli and his wife Sakshi on charges of kidnapping, rape, murder kidnapping, resulting in the disappearance of evidence and other crimes and in the Bharatiya nyaya Sanhita, and to protect children from the protection of the Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Kalyan police filed 948 pages of charges against the couple in February this year.
“Vishal Gawli raped and murdered the girl, while Sakshi helped him throw the body in Bapgaon,” the police statement said.
publishing – April 13, 2025, 2:46 pm IST
