22-yr-old gets death sentence for raping, killing seven-year-old

Karnal, September 16

The court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kaithal, Gagandeep Kaur Singh, on Saturday awarded death sentence to a 22-year-old man, Pawan Kumar of Gill Patti village under Kalyat police station in Kaithal district, for raping and killing a seven-year-old girl.

The court also ordered him to pay Rs 30 lakh compensation to the family of the victim through the District Legal Service Authority. Besides, a fine of Rs 13,000 has been imposed on the culprit under different sections.

The father of the girl told the police that his daughter went missing on October 8, 2022, when she went outside the house to play at 2 pm. He said that she was a second-class student. Her half burnt body was found the next day. The police had registered the case under Sections 365, 366, 376-A B, 302 and 201, IPC, and Section 6 of the POCSO Act at Kalayat police station. The police had arrested Pawan based on the CCTV footage and later he confessed to his crime and told that the police that he had killed the girl after raping her. When the girl screamed, Pawan strangulated her to death and later set the body on fire.

Later, after investigation, Section 376 (3) of the IPC was also added in the case. The police had submitted the challan in five days. The counsel of the victim was public prosecutor JB Goel, who was assisted by advocate Arvind Kumar Khurania.

The court found Pawan guilty of rape and murder and sentenced him to death in a 100-page verdict.The court said that, “Such a person has no right to live. The way he has committed the atrocity on the girl is unbearable. Law has given everyone the right to live. If someone violates this, he must be taught a lesson, so that others learn from it.”