A 22-year-old man found guilty in a POCSO case of killing and raping a nine-year-old girl was given the death penalty by a court in Valsad on Monday. Additionally, the court mandated that he pay the victim’s family Rs 17 lakh as part of the 2019 Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme.
During the trial, public prosecutor Anil Tripathi requested the court to consider it as a “rarest of the rare” case. On the basis of the medical reports and statements of the witnesses, Special POCSO court judge KJ Modi convicted the youth on murder and rape charges, and sentenced him to death. The court also ordered that under IPC Act Section 201, the convict should be sent to seven years behind bars.
According to Valsad police, the incident happened on February 7, 2020, when the convict, who knew the girl’s family, attempted to rape her. After she retaliated, he strangulated her to death before raping her. The accused later hanged the minor’s body from the fan to make it look like a suicide.
The body was discovered by the victim’s father upon returning home from work. The victim’s family hailed from Bihar.
Three days later, on February 10, the accused was captured by Vapi police. The defendant, who was 19 at the time and was also a native of Bihar, lived close to the victim’s home and worked in a factory. He was seen that fateful day by the victim’s maternal aunt and the neighbours.
He admitted during interrogation that he knew the girl would be alone in her home because her parents and brother used to leave for work in the morning and come home only in the evening.
Police lodged a complaint under IPC Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence committed), 376(A) (person committing an offence of rape and inflicting injury which causes death or causes the woman to be in a persistent vegetative state), 376(A, B) (rape on a woman below 12 years) and POCSO Act Sections 4, 5 (J) and 6.
“We are satisfied with the order given by the court. This order will also set an example for society. The accused first failed to commit rape, over her retaliation following which, he strangulated her to death and later committed rape and unnatural sex with her. Medically, it has been proved. Even the doctors who had carried out the post-mortem, had in their statements before the court, said they had found blood in her eyes,” said Tripathi.
C U Pujari, the defense lawyer, said he would study the court order before appealing at a higher court.