Man sentenced to death for girl’s rape-murder in Andhra
While pronouncing the judgement, special court judge Justice M A Somasekhar said the accused Dudekula Siddaiah, who happens to be a close relative of the victim, had resorted to the heinous crime which falls under the rarest of rare category and hence, was sentencing him to hanging till death.
Hyderabad
A special court dealing with Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) cases at Ongole in Andhra Pradesh’s Prakasam district on Wednesday sentenced a 32-year-old man to death in a rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in July 2021.
While pronouncing the judgement, special court judge Justice M A Somasekhar said the accused Dudekula Siddaiah, who happens to be a close relative of the victim, had resorted to the heinous crime which falls under the rarest of rare category and hence, was sentencing him to hanging till death.
“The accused was convicted under various sections of Pocso Act, besides Section 302 (murder), 376(A) and (B) (sexual assault on minor), 366 (kidnap), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of Indian Penal Code. He was sentenced to hanging until death,” Prakasam superintendent of police Mallika Garg told HT.
The special court judge also awarded a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family, which was not present when the judgement was pronounced. The girl’s father was an auto-rickshaw driver.
According to Garg, the incident took place on July 8, 2021. The girl was playing in front of her house with her friends when Siddhaiah lured her with chocolates and money, took her to his house and sexually assaulted her.
“When the girl started crying unable to bear the pain, Siddhaiah hit her head against the frame of the cot frame and killed her. Later, in an attempt to wipe out the evidence, he wrapped the child’s dead body in a plastic bag, took it on his bicycle and dumped in a drainage canal located on the outskirts of the village and fled,” the SP said.
When the victim didn’t return home until late evening, the parents who went in search of her filed a complaint with the police. A case was registered immediately, and the cops began an investigation. A dog squad was called in which led the police team to Siddhaiah’s house.
“The police found that Siddhaiah was absconding and the victim’s sandals, her bicycle, and a blood-stained blanket were found. The case was handed over to the Disha police for a speedy investigation. Within the next 48 hours, the accused Siddhaiah was arrested. He confessed to the crime and revealed the location of the girl’s body,” Garg said.
The Giddalur police, who registered the case, gathered crucial evidence and a DNA test to confirm that Siddhaiah was the one behind the brutal rape and murder. “Painstaking investigation by the team and an unrelenting presentation of evidence in the court has led to the conviction and the death sentence. Justice has been delivered within 18 months of the commission of the diabolic crime,” she said.
