Two get death penalty for child’s rape-murder

A fast-track court in Fatehabad has sentenced two men to death for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl. The judgment was delivered on Wednesday, just nine months after the incident which took place on the night of June 29, 2024.

Additional Sessions Judge Amit Garg found both accused guilty.

The incident happened on the night of June 29, 2024, in a village near Tohana. The victim’s family had come from Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh two months earlier to work as farm labourers. They were staying in a hut belonging to a local landowner.

On the night of the crime, three men Mukesh, Satish and Shambhu, who worked in the nearby fields, visited the family. They consumed alcohol and later left. Around 3 am, the child’s father noticed the girl was missing from her bed. After informing his wife and the landowner, they started searching for her.

The child was found shortly after — not far from the field — lying in a pool of blood on Jakhal road. Before losing consciousness, the girl told her parents that two men had done wrong things to her. She was taken to Tohana Civil Hospital and then referred to PGI Rohtak due to her critical condition. She died nine days later.

The police arrested Mukesh and Satish. Shambhu was not involved in the crime as he had left earlier. A case was registered under Sections of rape, POCSO Act and kidnapping. After the child’s death, murder charges were added.

SP Aastha Modi suspended sub-inspector Shakuntala for delay in reaching the crime scene on the night of the incident. As per public prosecutor Pradyuman Singh, the court found the accused guilty on Monday and awarded death sentence on Wednesday.

Haryana Tribune