28-year-old gets death penalty for rape, murder of toddler in 2018 in Gurugram

Sunil, the accused who uses one name, was arrested eight days after the crime from Uttar Pradesh. The incident had occurred on November 11, 2018

A 28-year-old man was given the death penalty by a sessions court on Wednesday for raping and murdering a three-year-old girl after abducting her when she was stepping out of a ‘bhandara’ organised near a temple in Sector-66 five years ago.

The court handed out the death sentence under section 376AB (committing rape on a woman under 12 years of age) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and imposed an overall penalty of ₹25000 on him. (Representational image)

Sunil, the accused who uses one name, was arrested eight days after the crime from Uttar Pradesh. The incident had occurred on November 11, 2018.

The special fast-track court of additional sessions judge Shashi Chauhan pronounced him guilty on February 3.

The court handed out the death sentence under section 376AB (committing rape on a woman under 12 years of age) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and imposed an overall penalty of ₹25000 on him.

Sunil, who belongs to UP’s Mahoba, is facing trials in two more cases of rape and murder of minor girls in the city, police officials aware of the matter said.

Public prosecutor Dharmendra Rana and special public prosecutor (POCSO Act) Sunil Kumar Parmar, said that the court termed the murder and rape of the toddler as a ‘rarest of rare’ case while pronouncing him guilty. “The judge also compared the case with the Nirbhaya incident looking at the brutality inflicted on the deceased victim,” they said.

“The court has also awarded ₹10 lakh compensation to the deceased victim’s parents who had shifted to the city from North Dinajpur, West Bengal for livelihood,” he added.

CCTV visuals showing the accused taking the girl away from the spot and then returning without her after 20 minutes was clinching evidence against him in the trial, Parmar added.

Police officials aware of the case, said that the accused had lured the victim on the pretext of giving her a chocolate and then taken her to a secluded place. There, he raped and murdered the her. He had also covered the girl’s face with a plastic bag after murdering her. Her body was spotted by commuters the next day following which a FIR was registered against him on the complaint of the victim’s father at Sector-65 police station.

They said that after Sunil was arrested on November 19, the clothes he had worn at the time of the crime were recovered from a hill in Jhansi. Forensic analysis found the girl’s DNA on the clothes and his DNA was found at the spot, officials said.