UP court sentences man to death for rape, murder of 10-year-old girl

Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Mohan Jaiswal said the manner in which the convict, Kedarnath Rathore, a rickshaw puller, raped and murdered the girl "brings the case into rarest of the rare category" and he should be hanged till death, according to District Government Counsel (DGC) Manoj Tripathi.

Lucknow:A court here on Tuesday sentenced a 59-year-old man to death for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in 2016. Additional Sessions Judge Shyam Mohan Jaiswal said the manner in which the convict, Kedarnath Rathore, a rickshaw puller, raped and murdered the girl "brings the case into rarest of the rare category" and he should be hanged till death, according to District Government Counsel (DGC) Manoj Tripathi.

The court has sent the matter to the Allahabad High Court for confirmation of the death sentence, he said. "The manner of rape and murder committed by the 59-year-old convict, who would carry little girls to school, brings the case into rarest of the rare category and hence the convict is not entitled to any leniency," the judge said.

Evidence shows that the convict stuffed a piece of cloth into the girl's mouth when she was crying and due to this, she died of suffocation. There were injuries on the back of her head and the face, he said. The case was registered on March 17, 2016, on the basis of a complaint lodged by the girl's father in Uttar Pradesh's Aliganj. Her body was found the next day, DCG Tripathi said.

During investigation, it was found that the girl was last seen with Rathore. He was nabbed and during interrogation, he confessed to his crime, Tripathi said.