Man gets death for rape-murder

THE COURT DIRECTED STATE GOVERNMENT TO PAY ADDITIONAL COMPENSATION OF ₹5 LAKH TO THE VICTIM’S MOTHER

PATNA: The special court in Bihar’s Gopalganj district sentenced on Saturday a 20-yearold man to death for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl in August last year.

The court also directed the state government to pay additional compensation of ₹5 lakh to the victim’s mother.

The court of additional district and sessions judge Balendu Shukla convicted Jaikishor Shah of raping and murdering the nine-year-old girl under sections 302, 376 (A,B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under section 4/6/8 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. According to Gopalganj SP Anand Kumar, the nine-year-old girl’s body was found stuffed in a gunny bag in a steel box at Shah’s house in Bakhraur village, about 200 metres from the victim’s place on August 25 last year. The accused had fled the village, but was arrested within 24 hours, he added. During the interrogation, Shah confessed to raping and murdering the girl, when she visited his house to play with his two-year-old son. Special public prosecutor Daroga Singh said the police submitted the charge sheet within two months, while the judgment came within 25 days of framing of charges against the culprit. Earlier on February 15, a Pocso court in Patna awarded death penalty to a private school principal Arvind Kumar, alias Raj Singhania, raping an 11-year-old girl on the institution premises.

Besides Singhania, the court also handed over rigorous life imprisonment to schoolteacher Abhishek Kumar (29) for conniving with Arvind. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, the number of crimes against women in India increased by 7.3% between 2018 and 2019.