Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 13 : The accused in the Kalyan rape and murder case allegedly died by suicide in Navi Mumbai's Taloja jail, officials said on Sunday.
Vishal Gawli, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering a minor girl in Maharashtra's Kalyan, hanged himself using a towel at 3:30 in the morning. According to a Taloja jail official, his body was sent to JJ Hospital in Mumbai for post-mortem.
The accused was lodged in the Taloja jail for three and a half months.
The Kalyan rape and murder case sparked outrage as it was followed by another sexual assault case in Badlapur, which occurred in August last year, where the victims were two minors studying in nursery class.
In December, the police arrested a couple - Vishal Gawli and his wife Sakshi Gawli - in connection with the Kalyan rape and murder case.
Reacting to the incident earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis emphasised the urgent need for quick judicial action and greater societal awareness.
Speaking about the incident, Fadnavis said, "Unfortunately, these incidents are happening in the society. The solution is that the judicial system should provide justice quickly, and there should be awareness in society."
He stressed that 95 per cent of such crimes are committed by relatives and acquaintances, calling it both a law-and-order issue and a deeper societal problem.
Fadnavis continued, "There should be sensitivity towards women and girls in the society," underlining the necessity for a cultural shift to prevent such crimes.
His remarks come in the wake of a brutal rape case that has shaken Kalyan, a town in the Thane district of Maharashtra.