Gujarat court sentences man to death for raping, killing 3-year-old girl

Anand: A special court at Anand in Gujarat sentenced a man to death for raping and murdering a three-year-old girl after kidnapping her over three years ago.

The special court hearing cases related to Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act passed the order on Tuesday.

Additional sessions judge Dilip Hingu sentenced Raju Devipujak (38), who had committed the crime on February 14, 2017.

The court said the case comes under the category of "rarest of the rare".

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on him, failing which he will have to undergo two years of rigorous imprisonment.

The court held him guilty of crimes under IPC sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offence), 397 (robbery), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act.

The convict had taken the girl to a tobacco farm and sexually assaulted her before strangling her to death and leaving her body at the site. He also took away the jewellery that she was wearing.