The trial of the three murder-rape accused in the Kopardi rape case may get delayed as the Ahmednagar Bar Association (ABA) has restrained its members from taking up the defence of three case accused — Jitendra alias Pappu Shinde, Santosh Bhaval and Nitin Bhailume.

The hearing in the case was slated to begin in the district and sessions court of Ahmednagar on October 10, however according to sources, the case was not allocated a court till Monday morning, as the accused did not have any defence lawyers. The police had last week filed a chargesheet against the three accused in the case, which had rocked the Assembly and triggered silent protests by Marathas across the state. The chargesheet was submitted in a sessions court before the statutory period of 90 days, which ends on Tuesday.

Speaking about the restraining order passed by the ABA, advocate Ashok Patil, member of the Maharashtra Goa Bar Council, confirmed the same, and said, “The crime of the three accused is heinous and unforgivable. Their crime is against the basic tenets of humanity and defending them would amount to doing injustice to the entire human race. Hence, considering the severity of the case, the ABA has asked its members not to take up the case,” said Mr Patil.

He added that members were also against the idea of defending the accused and they would decline to take up the case even if the court asked them to.

On the evening of July 13, the three accused had allegedly assaulted and raped the 14-year-old victim, who belongs to the Maratha community, while she was returning from her grandparents’ house which was close to her own house. The post-mortem report had revealed the extent of brutality of the accused. The victim was not only raped but her limbs were fractured and her arms dislocated from her shoulders and the body had human bite marks all over the body. Due to the hue and cry raised by the Maratha community, the Karjat police managed to trace and arrest the accused and framed charges under the Indian Penal Code as well as The Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act of 2012. The police filed a detailed chargesheet containing over 300 pages on October 6 and the case was to come up for hearing on Monday. While the petition will be argued by the additional public prosecutor, there is no counsel for the accused. According to the official website of the district court the case was not allocated a court till Monday morning.