INDIA: MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPING AND MURDERING MINOR GIRL

February 25, 2013: A court in Jabalpur, India, awarded death sentence to a man for raping and killing a seven year old girl in 2011.
Terming the case as "rarest of rare," Additional District Judge Chandresh Khare awarded capital punishment to Panchamlal (30), on the basis of evidence submitted by the prosecution. Panchamlal, of Sunachar village in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, had lured the minor girl to his house and raped her on May 12, 2011, prosecution officer Sushil Soni told a news agency.
When the girl raised an alarm, Panchamlal strangulated her and later dumped her body on a loft inside his house. As the girl did not return home till late in the night, her parents then informed the police.
Based on suspicion, police took Panchamlal in custody for questioning as the girl was spotted with him for the last time.
Panchamlal later broke down and revealed the entire story to police, following which the victim's body was seized from his house and sent for autopsy, Soni said.
A case under sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), 366, 376 (rape) and 201 of IPC was registered against him and submitted for trial after the probe.
Following this, the court awarded him death sentence for murder, life imprisonment for kidnapping and seven-year sentence each for rape and destruction of evidence in the case. (Sources: PTI, 25/02/2013)