Man gets double death penalty for killing, raping minor stepdaughter
(Sourced from PTI)
A Madhya Pradesh court yesterday awarded double death sentence to a man for raping and killing a five-year-old girl, who was the daughter of his wife from an earlier marriage. He was sentenced under different sections of the IPC. The incident took place this April and the sessions court in Jaora town in the Ratlam district, Madhya Pradesh pronounced the verdict. Details here.
The man had raped the victim at their home after locking her mother in a room, said the deputy director. He later beat up the victim resulting in her death, deputy director (prosecution) S K Jain said. The court convicted the man on the basis of the statement given by the victim's mother and the evidence submitted by the police, he further added.
According to the prosecution, the 42-year-old man was sentenced by Additional Session Judge O P Bohra under sections 376 (A-B) and 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for raping and murdering the girl. The court also imposed a fine of Rs. 15,000 on the convict and awarded him five-year rigorous imprisonment under other sections of IPC, Jain said.
Last year, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly passed a bill, named as Dand Vidhi (Madhya Pradesh Sanshodhan) Vidheyak, 2017, stipulating the death penalty as maximum punishment to those convicted for raping/gang-raping minors up to the age of 12 years. Capital punishment would be awarded to convicts under Section 376 (A), which is related to rape, and Section 376 (D, A), pertaining to gang rape.
