A Malegaon court on Friday sentenced Vijay Khairnar to death for the sexual assault and murder of a four-year-old girl in Dongrale village in Maharashtra ‘s Nashik district in November 2025, with the court terming the crime a ‘rarest of rare’ case.
Her body was subsequently found in a nullah near a mobile tower. Khairnar, a daily-wage worker and resident of the area, was arrested on the day of the incident. The prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence, DNA test results and other material to establish his involvement, despite the absence of direct eyewitnesses or CCTV footage.
The case relates to the incident on November 16, 2025, when the girl went missing while playing near her home in Dongrale village in Malegaon taluka. Investigators alleged that Khairnar, then 24, lured the child with chocolate before sexually assaulting and killing her.
The court accepted the prosecution’s case and convicted Khairnar before sentencing him to death on Friday. A chargesheet was filed on January 26, 2026, and the case was heard by a fast-track court. The death sentence will be subject to confirmation by the Bombay high court, as required by law.
