Jun 23, 2025 07:24 AM IST
She applied for bail on the grounds that she was not involved in the main offense and was forced by her husband to help in disposing of the girl’s body
Mumbai: A special POCSO court recently granted bail to Sakshi Gawli, the wife of Vishal Gawli, who was jailed for the kidnap, rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in Kalyan in December last year. Sakshi was accused of helping her husband in destroying the evidence. The police apprehended the couple in February and in April, Vishal Gawli hung himself at the prison toilet using a towel. She applied for bail on the grounds that she was not involved in the main offense and was forced by her husband to help in disposing of the girl’s body.
According to the police, the incident occurred in December last year, when the 12-year-old girl was found dumped in bushes near Bapgaon village in Bhiwandi tehsil on December 24, a day after the girl was kidnapped from near her house. The prime accused, Vishal Gawli, a known criminal from the Kolsewadi area, was arrested in Shegaon, Buldhana, while his wife, Sakshi Gawli, was apprehended in Kalyan city for allegedly helping him in disposing of the girl’s body. The police said that Vishal took her to his house where he raped and murdered her, and with his wife’s help, dumped the body at an isolated spot. The case had sparked intense anger among the residents of Kalyan East. The police investigated the case and filed a 948-page chargesheet against the couple in February.
Sakshi recently applied for bail stating that the main offence was committed by her husband after which he forced her to help him dispose of the girl’s body and destroy evidence. Sakshi’s advocate argued that she was at her workplace at the time the incident occurred and returned home only in the evening.
Hearing the arguments, the court observed that Sakshi was not involved in the crime but only helped her husband clear the evidence and that the offence is bailable. “Prima facie except section 238(a) of the BNS (causing disappearance of evidence of an offense), no other role is attributed to the applicant. Thus, the offence being bailable, she is entitled to be released on bail as of right”, observed special sessions judge VA Patravale, in an order passed on June 16.