Suri: A tribal youth was awarded capital punishment by a court here on Tuesday for raping and killing a five-year-old girl 10 months ago.
Sukal Tudu (20) was awarded death penalty by the Second Additional and Sessions Judge of Suri court, Mahananda Das, for the heinous crime.
The girl went missing on December 11 last year. She was last seen with her neighbour Sukal when she was playing near her house at Moldanga village under Bolpur sub-division.
As the girl did not return home, her mother went looking for her at Sukal's house but he denied any knowledge of her whereabouts.
Subsequently, when other villagers started interrogating Sukal, he broke down and confessed to his crime. He also led them to an abandoned rice mill where the girl was found lying unconscious in a pool of blood.
The girl was rushed to Bolpur hospital and later, shifted to Burdwan where she died two days later.
