Man gets death sentence for kidnapping, murdering minor boy

The Nagpur District Court today awarded the death penalty to a man for kidnapping and murdering an 11-year-old boy in the city in 2013.

Santosh Kadve (26), the accused, was held guilty of kidnapping and murdering the boy on June 10, 2013, said special public prosecutor Vijay Kolhe.

Sessions judge Shekhar Munghate delivered the verdict today, he said.

"The case fell under the 'rarest of rare' category and we had sought capital punishment. We proved the boy was last seen with Kadve by examining two child witnesses," he said.

A total of 27 witnesses were examined by the prosecution.

The boy had gone missing while playing outside his house in the Khapri area here.

According to the prosecution, Kadve, who lived nearby, had kidnapped him. He later called the boy's parents and demanded Rs 2 lakh in ransom.

Police tried to track him down from the mobile phone from which Kadve had called. When they finally zeroed in on Kadve, they found that he had already killed the boy and dumped his body near Mihan Overbridge, covering it with stones.

The body was found on the basis of the information given by Kadve during the interrogation, a fact which the court considered while holding him guilty, the prosecutor said.