Death penalty for rape-murder of toddler in Uttar Pradesh

A court in Raebareli has awarded death penalty to a man in connection with the rape and murder of a one-and-a-half-year-old girl in 2014. The court also imposed an overall fine of Rs 2.20 lakh and ordered half of it to be given to the father of the victim.

Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh): A special court on Saturday awarded death sentence to a man who had raped and murdered 18-month-old baby in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli.

According to the Raebareli Additional Superintendent of Police Viswajeet Srivastava, the man had committed the crime on the day of Navaratri in 2014.

Special judge (POCSO) Vijay Pal awarded the death sentence to Jitendra Singh on Friday, government counsel Vedpal Singh said. The court also imposed an overall fine of Rs 2.20 lakh and ordered half of it to be given to the father of the victim, Vedpal Singh added.

On May 3, 2014, an FIR was lodged at the Salon Police Station on a complaint by the child's father, who alleged that his relative raped and later strangled his daughter to death.

Jitendra Singh had buried the body in a tube well outside the village to destroy evidence, the counsel said.

The accused had executed the plan when the family members were busy celebrating Dusshera.

"The court has found the accused guilty of raping and murdering the infant girl. The court considered it a heinous crime and awarded death penalty to him," said Srivastava.