A court in Odisha's Jagatsinghpur district on Tuesday sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl last year.
Additional District and Special POCSO court Judge Munurani Mishra convicted 35-year-old Kalia Manna and sentenced him to death.
According to prosecution, Manna took the girl, who was playing near her house, into a cashew orchard on the outskirts of Gadaharishpur village in Jagatsinghpur district on March 20, last year and raped her.
After committing the crime, Manna strangulated the girl to death apprehending that she may disclose the incident to others and abandoned the body in the field.
The body was recovered the next day and the police launched a manhunt for Manna on the basis of clues obtained during investigation. Manna was picked up from Badambadi bus-stand in Cuttack the same day.
The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Court pronounced the verdict on the basis deposition of 25 witnesses and other evidence, Public Prosecutor Siba Prasad Majhi said.
He said this was the first death penalty pronounced by the special POCSO court in Jagatsinghpur.
Manna was convicted under section 376 (rape), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 302 (murder) of IPC and relevant provision of POCSO Act, he said,
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