The boy was remanded in police custody till March 19. File
After allegedly murdering a Class 10 boy, 18-year-old Rohan Mahalagikar, an engineering student, is apparently filled with remorse over his act, which happened “in the heat of the moment.” “He has broken down several times and strongly feels that he should not have committed the heinous crime,” a police officer from Nigdi police station said. Rohan had been remanded in police custody till March 19.
On March 13, 15-year-old Vedant Bhosale, a Class X student from Purnanagar area of Pimpri-Chinchwad, was found murdered in Nigdi with stab and slit wounds. Vedant was allegedly murdered by Rohan who was apparently jealous over his growing proximity to a girl he was friends with. During investigation, Rohan told the police that he did not like the growing proximity of Vedant to the girl. “She is not my girlfriend. But I did not like his friendship with her. I tried to tell Vedant that I was his friend before she came into the picture. I tried to tell this to Vedant. But he seemed least bother about my feelings,” he is known to have told the police.
Rohan told the police that since Vedant refused to listen, he decided to murder him. “I bought a knife from a local shop. I knew he had gone to study at her home. When he returned late in the night, I stabbed him on the neck. He started running away. I chased him and again stabbed him. I ensured that he was dead,” Rohan is said to have told the police. “I shouldn’t have done what I did… It all happened in the heat of the moment. I got angry because Vedant wouldn’t listen to me,” Rohan, the son of an advocate from Latur, has reportedly told the police.
Police said Rohan has broken down in the custody. “He knows that he would now get either life imprisonment or might even face the gallows. He repeatedly says that it was error of judgement. He should not have lost his cool,” a police officer said. Meanwhile, the girl has told the police that although she was friends with Rohan, he apparently misunderstood that and thought she was his girl-friend. “We used to chat on the phone. He used to offer me chocolates. I was frank in my conversation with him. It was this far and no further. But it seems he mistook our friendship…” she told the police. The girl, the police said, has told them that she was proud of Rohan for being an engineering student. “I, too, wanted to pursue engineering like him. I was proud of the field he had selected,” the girl said, according to an officer.
In another development, residents of Purnanagar in Chinchwad took out a rally, a day after the murder, demanding capital punishment for the culprit. They protested against the incident and demanded that the police should ensure law and order in Purnanagar. Vedant’s family that was part of the rally morcha said Rohan’s killer should be hanged till death. The family has also demanded that the state government appoints Ujwal Nikam as the public prosecutor in the case. “If capital punishment is given in this case, it will act as a deterrent to belligerent youths,” said Janvhi Bhosale, Vedant’s mother.