Minors Rape And Killing: Prayagraj Sessions Court Awards DEath Penalty
By Rajesh Pandey
The Sessions Court at Prayagraj has awarded a death sentence to a man who had raped an eight-year-old minor girl and thereafter killed her.
While awarding the capital punishment, the POCSO court termed the incident as the cruelest one and put the same in the category of rarest of rare cases, where the court can award a death sentence.
It is noteworthy that the POCSO court pronounced this judgment after eighteen months of the incident. The court also imposed a fine of 25,000 rupees on the accused.
While awarding capital punishment, POCSO court judge Vinod Kumar Chaurasia said, “The brutality inflicted on the innocent is a threat to society. The case is extremely cruel, inhumane, and shocking to society.
The accused has zero chance of reform. Therefore, the culprit deserves the death penalty”.
The court delivered its verdict within 18 months of the incident. The accused was convicted five days ago. The case occurred in the Soraon police station area of Prayagraj district.
It was on October 3, 2024, that a 26-year-old Mukesh Patel abducted a girl returning from Durga Puja. He later raped her and thereafter murdered her. Twelve days later, police arrested him in a shootout.
The public prosecutor, who represented the government, said the girl had gone to a Durga Puja pandal near Shivgarh intersection on October 3, 2024. She was returning home at 6:30 pm when she went missing.
The next day, on October 4th, her body was found in a paddy field on the outskirts of the village. Her body bore severe injuries. Her arms, legs, and teeth were broken. Blood and foam oozed from her mouth, and her private parts were severely injured.
Based on the complaint of the girl’s mother, a criminal case was registered against an unknown accused. A post-mortem examination confirmed rape followed by murder.
The police investigation revealed that the accused, Mukesh, was seen taking the girl away on his bicycle on the evening of the incident. He was shot and arrested in an encounter 12 days later.
The public prosecutor said that at the time, the police claimed that the accused first raped the innocent girl and the,n to conceal his identity, repeatedly attacked her face, breaking her teeth, inflicting facial injuries, es and breaking both her arms.
The accused was arrested in a police encounter on October 16. When police surrounded him in the Ganganagar area, he opened fire and fled. He was shot in the leg during the retaliatory fire.
The public prosecutor stated that after the investigation, the police filed a charge sheet on December 10, 2024. The court framed charges on December 21, 2024.
The accused was convicted on March 26, 2,026 and the POCSO court pronounced the death sentence on Monday, March 30.
According to public prosecutor Vinay Kumar Tripathi, this is the 10th death sentence handed down in the Prayagraj district and sessions court in 49 years.
