Alwar youth gets death for raping 7-month-old

Our Correspondent

Jaipur, July 21

A 19-year-old youth was on Saturday given death penalty by a court for raping a seven-month-old child in Alwar district of Rajasthan in May, the first such sentencing in the state after a law entailing capital punishment to those convicted of raping a child below 12 years of age came into force.

A special court hearing cases of SC/ST Act and POCSO Act in Alwar sentenced to death Pintu, who was found guilty of raping the infant in Laxmangarh area of Alwar on May 9.

Special Judge Jagendra Kumar Agarwal delivered the verdict after two hearings in 22 days. It is the first such case in Rajasthan after the criminal law (amendment) ordinance, which introduced IPC Section 376 AB came into force on April 21 under which the provision of death penalty for raping a girl below 12 years of age was introduced.

“Rajasthan is the second state in the country to have brought such a law in force after Madhya Pradesh passed it in December,” Additional Director General of Police (Jaipur range) Hemant Priyadarshi told a press conference here. He said this was the first such case in Rajasthan and the third in the country. In the first two cases, the accused was given death sentence, the ADGP said.

The incident occurred at Harsana village under the Laxmangarh police station where a relative was babysitting the child when the accused took her away. The child was sleeping with her grandmother who was visually challenged. When the parents came looking for the girl, they were told by the relative that a neighbour had taken her away. She was later found crying in a football field, about a kilometre from their home in Laxmangarh. 

The child was then admitted to the Alwar hospital for 20 days where the medical examination confirmed rape. The accused was later arrested and a case was registered under relevant sections of the IPC and POCSO on June 6.