Mumbai: A court in Maharashtra's Parbhani district has awarded death sentence to a man for raping and brutally killing a five year-old girl, observing the crime was "more cruel" than the act of the most dreaded animal.
Special Judge (POCSO cases) S G Inamdar in his order on Tuesday pronounced the accused, Vishnu Gore (30), guilty under Indian Penal Code Section 302 for murder and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
According to the prosecution, the girl lived with her grandparents, who worked as farm labourers, at a village in Parbhani, located around 500 km from here. On October 27, 2016, when the grandparents returned home from work, they did not find the girl at home. After unsuccessful attempts to locate her, they filed a missing person's complaint at Sonpeth police station two days later.
During the course of investigation, the police found the girl's body in a well near a field in the village on October 31, 2016 following which they arrested the accused, who worked as a labourer and resided in the same district.
As per the prosecution, the accused kidnapped the victim from outside her house, sexually assaulted her and then strangulated her to death with a nylon rope. He then wrapped the body in a gunny bag and threw it into the well.
While there was no direct evidence, the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence to prove its case. They examined 23 witnesses, including the victim's grandfather and the person who had last seen the girl with the accused.
Additional Public Prosecutor S D Wakodkar told the court that the case was proved beyond all reasonable doubt, and sought death sentence for the accused. "This falls under the ambit of the 'rarest of rare' case. It is a case of aggravated penetrative sexual assault on the minor girl and killing her," Wakodkar told the court while praying for capital punishment.
Finding merit in the prosecution's arguments, the court awarded death sentence to the accused, observing that he acted in a manner "highly repugnant to the morals and committed diabolic, premeditated, brutal, pre-planned aggravated penetrative sexual assault and cold-blooded murder".
"The act is more cruel than (that of) the most dreaded cruel animal who kills for hunger or in self-defence only," Judge Inamdar said.
The court further observed that the mentality of the accused reflected that he derived "satanic pleasure" by committing the crime.
"Nowadays, we are celebrating Women's Day and their rights in all spheres. We are required to show our concern for their honour by giving justice to the deceased girl," the court added.
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