Bhopal:
Three months after a four-year-old girl was raped and brutalised on July 1 night, a court in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district handed her rapist — a guest teacher at a village school — the death sentence on Wednesday. The conviction is unique in that the survivor’s statement was taken via video conferencing which proved vital in the trial.
The child was still at AIIMS-Delhi, recovering from the horrific injuries caused by the rape. Part of her intestine had to be removed and she was now dependent on a tube fitted to her stomach for excretion, sources said.
The state government flew the survivor to AIIMS on July 3 and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke with the doctors treating her the next day. After the judgment, Chouhan tweeted: “I express my gratitude towards those people who have contributed to ensuring justice to the innocent and protection of society.”
While sentencing the 25-year-old convict to death, additional district judge Nagaud said: “In Indian social system, daughters are considered heritage of the nation. Incidents like this cannot be allowed in civilised society.”
“He brutalised the child in such a manner that there was no scope for mercy. We had produced all medical reports before the court. I am confident that the higher courts will uphold the judgment,” said DSP Kiran Kiro, who investigated the case.
Juvenile gets 20-year jail for raping and killing minor Dalit girl last year
A special court of Juvenile Justice (Care and Prevention of Child) Hisar on Wednesday sentenced a juvenile to 20 years in prison and a fine of Rs 80,000 for raping, torturing and murdering a six-year-old Dalit girl last year. Justice D R Chaliya had convicted the boy on September 12.
On December 7, 2017, the convict kidnapped the girl from a tent-like structure on the roadside in Uklana town. Her brutalised body was found in the vacant quarters of BSNL the next morning. Postmortem revealed she had died due to “torture by inserting a 24cm-long wooden stick into her private parts... with force.” After probe, cops booked a minor in the case in December 2017. As he was above 16 years, under the new law, the case was heard in the special court under the Juvenile Justice Act. TNN
