23 days after he raped, killed baby, man gets death

THE ACCUSED IS A GANGRENE IN THE BODY OF THE SOCIETY AND TO SAVE SOCIETY SUCH PARTS SHOULD BE CUT, SAYS THE JUDGE

BHOPAL: A 25-year-old man who kidnapped, raped and then killed a three-month-old girl was sentenced to death on Saturday by a fast track court in Indore within 23 days of the crime, in one of the quickest deliveries of justice the country has seen.

The death penalty was awarded under the Indian Penal Code and not under the recent ordinance amending the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act that was rushed through last month even as the country seemed to be reeling under an epidemic of rapes of minors. District public prosecutor Mohammad Akram Sheikh said the accused, Navin Gadke, was sentenced to death under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 376A (raping a minor), and given a life term under POSCO Act.

Additional sessions judge Varsha Sharma gave the verdict.

She said: “The accused has raped a three- month, four-day old innocent and helpless baby who knew nothing more than smiling and crying, and then killed her in a brutal way by throwing her on the floor. Therefore this act is not against an individual but against the entire society.”

The judge went on to say in her verdict: “This accused is a gangrene in the body of the society... If such people are given life sentences, then there is a possibility that they might come out and commit the same crime once again. This is a rarest of rare case and the accused should receive the maximum sentence.”

The incident, which numbed Indore and all India, took place on the intervening night of April 19 and 20.