Toddler goes missing for two hours, found murdered in Warje

PUNE: Two hours after two-and-a-half-year old Vishakha Praveen Sonawane went missing from her house in Ramnagar in Warje on Wednesday around 7.30am, her body was found in a guava orchard located near the flyover at Warje on Katraj-Dehu road bypass.
The Warje Malwadi police found a big stone near Vishakha’s body. “There was a major blow on her forehead. We are yet to ascertain the motive behind the murder,” said a senior police officer from the crime branch.
Senior inspector of the Warje Malwadi police station Ganpat Pingle told TOI that police have detained eight suspects.
Pingle said the murder came to light after a worker in the orchard noticed a body near a shed and informed the owner Sachin Barate about it. “At the same time, a woman had come to the Ramnagar police chowkey to lodge a missing person’s complaint about her daughter,” he said.
He said a team of Warje Malwadi police station went to the orchard. “The girl was wearing a yellow-coloured frock and a red sweater. The girl’s mother informed us that her daughter too was wearing similar coloured clothes. The girl’s mother was sent to the spot, where she ascertained the identity of her daughter,” Pingle said.
Vishakha’s father Pravin Sonawane, a house-keeping staff of a gym in Warje Malwadi, told TOI that he left home for his workplace around 7am on Wednesday. “At that time Vishakha was playing outside our rented room in Ramnagar. My sister-in-law lives in front of our house. Around 7.30am, her daughter was on her way to school. At that time Vishakha had followed her for some distance. Later, she went missing,” Sonawane said.
Sonawane said every morning Vishakha used to play in front of our room and then used to visit her aunt’s place or houses of other relatives living in the same locality. “She used to return after spending an hour with them. So my wife Minaxi thought that Vishakha must be in the house of one of our relatives,” Sonawane said.
He said when Vishakha did not return home after an hour, Minaxi started looking for her. “After checking the houses of all our relatives, Minaxi got suspicious and sent one of our relatives to my gym,” Sonawane said.
He lodged a complaint with police after searching for his daughter in the vicinity.
Pravin Sonawane said a woman in his neighbourhood saw Vishakha with a man in the morning. “The woman had even asked the man as to where was he taking her. The man told her that he was the girl’s uncle,” he said.
“I do not know why the person killed my daughter. Neither do I have any enemy nor did I ever entered into a brawl with anyone,” Sonawane said.