Man gets double death penalty for killing, raping stepdaughter

A court Monday awarded double death sentence under different sections of the IPC to a man for raping and killing a five-year-old girl, who was the daughter of his wife from an earlier marriage.

The incident took place in April this year and the sessions court in Jaora town in the district pronounced the verdict.

According to the prosecution, the 42-year-old man was sentenced by Additional Session Judge O P Bohra under sections 376 (A-B) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for raping and murdering the girl.

Last year, the Madhya Pradesh assembly passed a bill stipulating the death penalty as maximum punishment to those convicted for raping/gang-raping minors up to the age of 12 years.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on the convict and awarded him five-year rigorous imprisonment under other sections of the IPC, deputy director (prosecution) S K Jain said.

The man had raped the victim at their home after locking her mother in a room. He later beat up the victim resulting in her death, he said.

The court convicted the man on the basis of the statement given by the victim's mother and evidence submitted by the police, he added.