Jhargram: Two men were sentenced to death by a special court in West Bengal's Jhargram district on Wednesday for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl. Judge Chinmay Chattopadhyay of the special POCSO court also imposed a fine of 25,000 on the two convicts.
The girl went missing from her home in Nayagram police station area on November 4, 2021, following which her family lodged a police complaint, Special Public Prosecutor Subhasish Dwivedi said.
During the course of the investigation, police arrested her neighbouring, who led him to the other accused. During interrogation, they pointed the investigators to the body of the girl, who was buried in a paddy field. The post-mortem examination confirmed that the girl was raped and then killed, Dwivedi said.
The court convicted the duo on Tuesday based on the statements of 30 persons, including police officers and medical examiners. Besides sentencing them to death, the court also directed the state government to give Rs 5 lakh to the family of the girl.
Meanwhile, a local court on Wednesday awarded the death sentence to a man for raping and killing an eight-year-old girl in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh in March this year. Special judge under the POCSO Act Manraj Singh awarded the death sentence to Gautam Singh Dohre. Superintendent of Police Charu Nigam said Dohre raped the minor girl and strangulated her to death on March 25. The girl was grazing her goat near her house when Dohre lured her away by offering her biscuit.
Dohre and the girl belonged to the same village in the Ayana police station area. Later, he was arrested. Her body was later recovered on the information provided by Dohre. The charge sheet in the case was filed within eight days of the incident and the court on Wednesday convicted the accused and sentenced him to death, the police officer said. The additional director general of police of Kanpur has rewarded the police team with an amount of Rs 25,000 for their quick action in the case as the trial was completed within three months after they arrested the accused, the SP added. (With Agency Inputs)
