INDIA: MADHYA PRADESH HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR RAPE CONVICT

July 16, 2013: In India, indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court upheld a special court's verdict awarding death sentence to a 40-year-old man for raping and murdering his seven-year-old adopted niece in 2012.
The joint bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and M C Garg dismissed the appeal of convict R S Sengar challenging the special fast track court's judgement awarding capital punishment, said government pleader Banwarilal Yadav.
The high court also struck down Sengar's wife Baby's appeal challenging the life term given to her by the lower court for her role in the crime. The designated court in its March 12 order found Sengar guilty under sections 302 (murder), 376 (punishment for rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) and his wife for hatching and aiding her husband in executing the conspiracy to murder the victim.
The child was raped and murdered in Lasudia area on September 26, 2012. The prosecution cited the postmortem report and DNA test examination confirming the sexual assault on the girl and physical injuries that caused her death.
The biological parents of the victim stay in Uttar Pradesh and she was adopted by Sengar and his wife following death of their two children earlier. Sources said that the Sengar couple used to frequently torture the helpless child. (Sources: Press Trust of India, 17/07/2013)