Man sentenced to death by hanging for rape-cum-murder of minor

A court in Jhalawar sentenced today a man to death by hanging for killing a minor girl after raping her in the Rajasthan district.

Special schedule tribe/schedule caste (ST/SC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court convicted the 24-year-old man and announced that he be hanged till death for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Chotiraipur village under Jhalawar city police station.

The special ST/SC and POCSO court judge Swati Sharma convicted Mode Singh alias Langda Bheel, a resident of Chotaraipur of Jhalwar, special public prosecutor, ST/SC and POCSO court, Jhalawar, Dheeraj Acharya said.

The convict on February 14 this year abducted the minor when she was at a local Mahashivratri fair and murdered her after raping.

He dumped her body in nearby field in the village, Sharma said, adding the minor's body was found the next day in the field near the village.

The convict was arrested on the same day and was booked under Sections 366, 376 and 302 of the IPC and Sections of the POCSO Act, he said.

Police submitted the charge sheet in the case on February 28 this year and the trial lasted for five months and 24 days, the SPP said, adding that statements of 25 witnesses were recorded in the court and 44 documents produced during the trial.