Hyderabad (Telangana): In a significant development, the Telangana High Court has upheld the death sentence awarded by the lower court to the man accused of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Narsingi area of Rangareddy district in 2017.
The High Court while dismissing the petition filed by the convict confirmed the death sentence terming the crime as rare. The High Court upheld the death sentence awarded to the accused by the Metropolitan Sessions Judge (MSJ) Court in Rangareddy in February 2021.
The Metropolitan Sessions Judge had awarded the capital punishment to the accused Dinesh Kumar Dharne (23), a labourer from Madhya Pradesh on February 9, 2021 after he was found guilty on charges of rape and murder under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), IPC section 302 (murder) and other provisions.
Following the Metropolitan Sessions Judge, the accused Dinesh Kumar filed an appeal in the Telangana High Court challenging the MSJ court judgment.
The case dates back to the afternoon of December 12, 2017. According to the police, the five-year-old girl was playing in front of the house while her mother went into the house when accused Dinesh Kumar lured her with a chocolate and took her to the nearby bushes where he raped her. The accused later killed the unconscious child by hitting her with a stone. He later returned to the labor camp to get away with the rape and murder.
The Telangana High Court's Wednesday's judgment is the first verdict issued by the High Court upholding the death sentence imposed by the lower court in the Telugu states.
