PUNE, June 26 -- A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Pune on Thursday convicted a 65-year-old man for the rape and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in Nasrapur village, holding that the prosecution had established an "unbroken chain of circumstantial and forensic evidence" that proved his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Special Judge S R Salunkhe has reserved the quantum of punishment for June 29. After finding him guilty, when the court asked Kamble what punishment he should receive, the convict said he had not committed the crime. "The accused showed no signs of repentance or potential for reformation. The only appropriate sentence is death," the court noted in its order. The prosecution has asked for the death penalty, citing the extreme brutality of the offence. The crime took place on May 1 when the child was at her grandmother's house in Bhor tehsil's Nasrapur for the summer vacation. The accused lured her away to a shed near a cattle barn between 3 pm and 4 pm with the promise of snacks and a newborn calf. Here, he subjected her to severe sexual assault and then murdered her. The outrage and protests across Maharashtra put mounting pressure on the police and state government, and within 15 days, the Pune Rural Police filed a 1,200-page chargesheet on May 16. During the fast-track trial, special public prosecutor Ajay Misar examined 55 witnesses, including forensic experts, investigators, family members, and child witnesses who successfully identified the accused in an identification parade. "The accused denied the offence and claimed the child was injured after he slipped while showing her a calf, but the evidence proved otherwise," Misar told reporters after the hearing. "The post-mortem report showed 18 injuries. There was rape, anal penetration and oral sexual assault. The accused's semen was found on the child's hand and neck." The prosecution also presented CCTV footage, DNA profiling, medical evidence, forensic reports, and testimonies to buttress its case. It relied on 12 Supreme Court landmark judgments to argue that the case fell in the 'rarest of the rare' category. "We emphasised the child's age and the 39 minutes of continuous assault," said Misar. "Also the accused's criminal history-he has prior offences involving a 62-year-old woman, a 17-year-old girl, an animal, and now this child. He is a threat to society." The accused Bhimrao Kamble, who worked as a labourer, is a father of six daughters and a son and has 11 grandchildren. The defence cited his advanced age and denial of the crime as mitigating factors and submitted two case laws. When the court pronounced its judgement, Kamble was alone in the jam-packed courtroom with none of his family members present. Shiv Sena MLC Neelam Gorhe expressed her gratitude to the court for ensuring a swift trial and emphasised that the state government had treated the matter with the utmost gravity from Day 1. Both she and BJP legislator Chitra Wagh asserted that such offenders needed to be dealt with ruthlessly and get capital punishment....