THANE: The Thane district and sessions court on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Prashant Pawar (25) for stabbing to death his pregnant girlfriend, Sushma Nikam (21), in broad daylight on a busy Thane street in June 2007.
Pawar, an insurance agent working in Thane, had stabbed Nikam 27 times near the MSRTC workshop at Khopat around 9.30 am in full view of hundreds of people, who remained silent spectators to the killing. A bleeding Nikam lay on the road crying for help, while her attacker turned the knife on himself and attempted to commit suicide.
TOI photojournalist Anil Shinde, who was passing by, rushed to the rescue of the victim. He gathered the young girl, who was soaked in blood, in his arms and with the help of some locals, put her in an autorickshaw.
Pawar, who was bleeding from his self-inflicted stab wounds, also pleaded for help and insisted that he wanted to go with his lover to the hospital. Shinde, however, put them in different autorickshaws and accompanied Nikam to the Thane civil hospital.
Pawar, who was following in the other autorickshaw, managed to escape by jumping into the Makhmali Talao when the auto slowed down.
"He swam through the waters and after cleaning off the bloodstains, took a bus to Nashik. He created a fake identity and got himself treated for his injuries in Nashik. He returned to Thane on June 28, only to be nabbed by the police," said chief public prosecutor R J Kadri.
Four years after the gruesome murderwhich shocked citizens in the lake city here, principal sessions judge K K Sonawne on Saturday awarded Pawar the life sentence. The court also made him pay a fine of Rs 5,000. "The dying declaration of Nikam, while she was being taken in an ambulance to Sion Hospital, sealed Pawar's fate. She named him in the assault and also briefly explained the reasons for the crime of passion," Kadri said.
Nikam died in the hospital two weeks after the attack.
Kadri said that Nikam had insisted that Pawar marry her soon after she learnt that she was pregnant with his child.
Nikam's parents, however, were against the alliance and refused to let their daughter attend office for a while.
On June 23, Nikam was headed to her office after a long hiatus when Pawar seized the opportunity and attacked her.
Pawar, an insurance agent working in Thane, had stabbed Nikam 27 times near the MSRTC workshop at Khopat around 9.30 am in full view of hundreds of people, who remained silent spectators to the killing. A bleeding Nikam lay on the road crying for help, while her attacker turned the knife on himself and attempted to commit suicide.
TOI photojournalist Anil Shinde, who was passing by, rushed to the rescue of the victim. He gathered the young girl, who was soaked in blood, in his arms and with the help of some locals, put her in an autorickshaw.
Pawar, who was bleeding from his self-inflicted stab wounds, also pleaded for help and insisted that he wanted to go with his lover to the hospital. Shinde, however, put them in different autorickshaws and accompanied Nikam to the Thane civil hospital.
Pawar, who was following in the other autorickshaw, managed to escape by jumping into the Makhmali Talao when the auto slowed down.
"He swam through the waters and after cleaning off the bloodstains, took a bus to Nashik. He created a fake identity and got himself treated for his injuries in Nashik. He returned to Thane on June 28, only to be nabbed by the police," said chief public prosecutor R J Kadri.
Four years after the gruesome murderwhich shocked citizens in the lake city here, principal sessions judge K K Sonawne on Saturday awarded Pawar the life sentence. The court also made him pay a fine of Rs 5,000. "The dying declaration of Nikam, while she was being taken in an ambulance to Sion Hospital, sealed Pawar's fate. She named him in the assault and also briefly explained the reasons for the crime of passion," Kadri said.
Nikam died in the hospital two weeks after the attack.
Kadri said that Nikam had insisted that Pawar marry her soon after she learnt that she was pregnant with his child.
Nikam's parents, however, were against the alliance and refused to let their daughter attend office for a while.
On June 23, Nikam was headed to her office after a long hiatus when Pawar seized the opportunity and attacked her.
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