Woodcutter gets jail till death in 2017 Gudiya rape-murder case

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, June 18

The lone accused convicted in the Gudiya case involving the rape and murder of a schoolgirl four years ago, Anil Kumar (28) was today sentenced to life imprisonment till death by Special Judge Rajiv Bharadwaj.

Anil, a woodcutter, was awarded life imprisonment till death for rape under Section 376 of the IPC and life imprisonment till death with a fine of Rs 10,000 for murder under Section 302 of the IPC. Both the sentences would run concurrently. The Special Judge pronounced the order in the presence of the convict.

Victim’s kin had moved HC for re-probe

The victim’s kin had filed a petition in the HC on October 15, 2020, seeking re-investigation into the case by the CBI. The plea was accepted and the hearing in the case is going on.

The court had on April 28 held Anil, alias Nilu, guilty under the Indian Penal Code sections related to rape and murder, as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The heinous crime had triggered an outrage all over Himachal Pradesh. The 16-year-old victim was raped and killed in a forest area in Shimla’s Kotkhai while she was on her way home from school on July 4, 2017.

The case saw dramatic twists, including the custodial death of a man earlier suspected of having committed the crime and the arrest of a senior police officer in this connection. The CBI then took charge of the case and arrested Anil three years ago.

The Special Judge said 12 of the 14 crucial points of evidence presented by the CBI went against the convict. The most important of them was the matching of his DNA with samples found at the crime spot, he said.

During the hearing on April 28, the Judge ruled that the crime was committed on the spur of the moment under the influence of liquor when Anil came across the girl as she walked home through the forested area.

The girl’s body was found in the forest two days after she went missing. A post-mortem report indicated rape and murder. Days later, the police set up an SIT headed by IG Zahur Zaidi. The police arrested six men on July 13. One of them, Suraj, died in police custody on July 19.

Amid public outrage, the HP High Court handed over the case to the CBI, which arrested nine policemen, including the IGP, for the custodial death. The proceedings against the five men arrested along with Suraj were dropped for lack of evidence.

The custodial death case against the police officers was later transferred to Chandigarh, where it is currently being heard. Anil was arrested in April 2018 on the basis of suspicion.

The case file

• July 4, 2017: Minor girl reported missing on way back from school in Kotkhai
• July 6: Her body found in nearby Haliailla forest
• July 7: Postmortem confirms rape and murder
• July 12: Photos of some suspects uploaded on CM’s Facebook page, deleted
• July 13: Six suspects arrested
• July 19: Suraj, an accused, dies in custody; HC asks CBI to probe rape case & custodial death
• April 13, 2018 – CBI arrests Anil in rape and murder case

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