Man convicted within 29 days of rape,murder of 7-year-old girl

District and Sessions Judge, Sambalpur, Bibhu Prasad Routray yesterday convicted Pradip Dalai of Balibhanga area under town police limits here for committing the crime on September 2.

The court reserved till tomorrow the order for pronouncing the quantum of punishment.

The prosecution said, the girl, a class II student of an upper primary school in Jhaduapura, was playing with her friends on the day when she was lured away by the man, who was known to her, on the promise of chow mein treat.

When the girl did not return home at night, her body was found after a search by her parents and relatives from a bush near Ring Road.

The girl, daughter of daily wage earner, was found to have been raped and strangulated.

Pradip was arrested and chargesheeted within seven days.

Altogether 12 persons including her mother, medical officer of VSS Medical College Hospital who had conducted the post-mortem, an officer of Town police station and a woman sub- inspector had deposed in the course of the trial.

Pradip was convicted under different sections of IPC for kidnapping, rape, murder and tampering with the evidences based on the circumstantial evidence, seizures and deposition by witnesses, Public Prosecutor (PP) Artatrana Mishra said.

Claiming that the court order had set a record of sorts in the Odisha judiciary, Mishra said, "It's for the first time in the history of state's judiciary that a judgement was delivered within only 29 days of the occurrence of a crime."