INDIA: MATHURA COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF MINOR BOY IN 15-DAY TRIAL

June 1, 2023:

A special court in Mathura, dealing with cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on May 29, 2023 sentenced a man to death for raping and killing a 9-year-old boy. The relatives of the deceased boy told India Today that the court gave its verdict just 15 days after the charge sheet was filed.
The incident occurred on April 8 this year. The child had gone to the mosque to offer Namaz in the evening. When he did not return home, his family members got worried. After a lot of searching, the father reported the matter to the police. The police immediately started checking the CCTV cameras in the vicinity.
In the CCTV footage, the police saw the boy going with Saif, who worked for the boy's father. When questioned by the police, Saif confessed to the crime.
The body of the child was recovered from near a drain, 500 meters away from the house. Saif told the police that he first sodomised the boy and then, out of fear, strangled him to death. He had thrown the boy's body near the drain.
The case was heard in the court of Special Judge, POCSO Act, Ram Kishore Yadav. The charges against the accused were proven on May 26.
On May 29, the court sentenced the accused Saif to death and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Prosecutor Alka Upamanyu said that the convict had accepted his crime before the trial.
There were a total of 14 witnesses in the case. The final arguments took place on May 22 and on May 26, the accused was found guilty of all the charges.
The parents of the deceased boy told India Today that while they were sure of getting justice in the case, they were surprised at how quickly it was delivered.