Pune, Sep 10 (IANS): In a shocking development, a death-row convict in the sensational July 2016 Kopardi gang-rape-cum-murder of a 15-year-old schoolgirl, committed suicide in the Yerawada Central Jail here early on Sunday, official sources said.

The convict, named Jitendra Babula Shinde alias Pappu was 26-year-old when he committed the crime.

Shinde, along with two others -- Santosh Gorkha Bhawal, 30 and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume, 28 -- were found guilty and given the death penalty for rape, conspiracy, kidnap, murder and other crimes under the IPC and POCSO in November 2017, nearly 18 months after the heinous crime shook the state.

A lawyer for one of the convicts Adv. Vijalayaxmi Khopade told IANS that the convicted trio’s death sentence was yet to be ratified by the Bombay High Court and the relevant proceedings were in process.

The cause of Shinde’s suicide is not clear and the investigations are underway, said an official.

On July 13, 2016, the minor victim studying in Class 9, had gone to her grandmother’s home nearby to fetch some spices, but was allegedly lured by the trio, kidnapped and then subjected to the bestial rape and murder.

The shuddering incident had triggered off a series of silent processions by the Maratha community demanding action against the accused.

The state government had appointed Special Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam to direct the legal battle before a Fast Track Court in Ahmednagar which delivered its verdict after 18 months in November 2017.