A 32-year-old fisherman was on Monday was sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Gir Somnath district in 2022.
The court of Additional District Judge SI Bhorania, the designated POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) judge of Kodinar, convicted the accused under the Indian Penal Code’s Sections 302 (murder), 376(a)(j) (raping a woman incapable of giving consent 376(2)(m) (causes grievous bodily harm or maim or disfigure or endanger the life of a woman while committing rape), 376AB (raping a woman under 12 years of age), 376A (causing death while committing rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and POCSO Act.
The court also awarded life imprisonment to the accused and imposed a Rs 25,000 fine while awarding Rs 17 lakh compensation to the victim’s family.
According to the prosecution, on June 12, 2022, the eight-year-old girl was on the way to a provision store when the accused stopped her, gave her money to purchase a bidi packet and a matchbox for him.
Later, the girl went to his house with the items and the accused dragged her inside and brutalised her. He smothered her, packed her body in a sack and then dumped it near the village crematorium.
Police had tracked down the accused on the basis of the bidi packet and the matchbox. According to the prosecution, the man was living alone after his wife and daughter left him due to his alleged drinking habit. Police had filed a chargesheet within 25 days and had attached statements of six key witnesses.
“ We told the court that such a cruelty against a minor had never been committed in Kodinar and that this was a rarest of the rare case fit for sending the convict to gallows. The court agreed and awarded death to the convict,” Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Ketansinh Vala told The Indian Express.
Vala said that eye-witnesses supported the prosecution’s case. “A minor who was the victim’s classmate was the last person to see her and the accused together. That witness and another minor witness testified in support of the prosecution,” said the APP.
Gir Somnath Superintendent of Police Manoharsinh Jadeja said that a special investigation team (SIT) was formed to probe the case.
“We collected scientific evidence meticulously, including extracting DNA of the accused from nails of the victims,” said Jadeja.
Meanwhile, the state government said that the judgment in the case sends a “clear signal to those with a criminal mindset”. Based on instructions from Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi had given orders for “sensitive and thorough investigation by collecting relevant scientific and circumstantial evidence as would lead to conviction and capital punishment”.
An official release said: “A depraved man has been awarded capital punishment for raping and murdering an eight-year-old innocent girl on June 12, 2022. By way of such strict action, the state government has sent a clear signal of warning to elements having a criminal mindset.”
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