A court in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday sent an autorickshaw driver to the gallows who raped a Class 10 student and murdered her in March 2012.
Principal sessions judge B Sudheendrakumar awarded the death penalty to Rajesh Kumar who raped the 15-year-old victim on March 6, 2012 when she was alone in her house.
He was arrested a week after the incident.
After the verdict, the victim's mother told reporters: "Capital punishment is what the murderer deserved and we prayed for it also. He did not deserve anything less."