The court of additional district and sessions judge Ashwini Kumar sentenced paedophile and alleged serial killer Sunil, who is already on death row, to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl in Civil Lines in 2017. The court has also imposed a fine of ₹2.5 lakh on the convict. The Legal Services Authority has been asked to give a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family.
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Sunil was arrested in November 2018 during a probe into the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in Gurugram. The convict revealed told police that he had killed at least 15 people in Gurugram, Delhi, Gwalior and Jhansi over the past seven years. He had confessed to raping and murdering at least three girls in Gurugram between 2016 and 2018. Sunil used to mostly target girls at bhandaras organized for religious events and used to kidnap them, rape them and then kill them.
On January 6, 2017, a man had filed a complaint at the Civil Lines police station that his 6-year-old daughter went to the bhandara at Peer Baba to take prasad but did not return home, according to Dr Anju Rawat Negi and Kulbhushan Bhardwaj of the Farishte Group, a social organisation that helps rape victims.
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The police registered a case and started searching for the girl. On January 25, 2017, the body of a child was found in a water tank in Drona Park at Rajiv Chowk and the family identified her as their missing daughter. The postmortem report revealed rape and strangulation after which sections of murder and Pocso Act were added to the FIR.
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The police registered a case and started searching for the girl. On January 25, 2017, the body of a child was found in a water tank in Drona Park at Rajiv Chowk and the family identified her as their missing daughter. The postmortem report revealed rape and strangulation after which sections of murder and Pocso Act were added to the FIR.
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The police constituted an SIT in this case, which arrested Sunil, a resident of village Ganj in Uttar Pradesh.
“Strong evidence and witnesses were also presented in the court. Finding that the charges against the accused were proved, the court had last week declared the accused guilty and reserved the decision on his punishment which the court ruled on Friday. In another case, the court has also awarded a death sentence to this accused and some cases are still pending,” said advocate Kulbhushan Bhardwaj.
Leena Dhankhar is Senior Editor and Bureau Chief, Gurugram, at Hindustan Times, where she has spent over 17 years chronicling the transformation of one of India's fastest-growing urban regions. From starting her career as a crime reporter to leading the Gurugram bureau, her journalism has been defined by investigative reporting, in-depth storytelling and an unwavering focus on public interest.
Over nearly two decades, she has reported extensively across crime, politics, civic governance, elections, real estate, environment, courts, sports, education and entertainment, covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Palwal. Her reporting has exposed several major scams and systemic failures, including insurance frauds, waste management irregularities, illegal arms manufacturing units in Nuh, illegal mining in the Aravallis, organised crime networks and governance lapses affecting millions of residents.
Known for her investigative work and exclusive stories, Leena has reported on high-impact national issues, including the Nicaragua charter flight carrying Indian migrants that was turned back amid allegations of human trafficking, exposing the growing network of illegal immigration rackets. Her work has also focused on gang wars, prison administration, juvenile crime, women and child protection systems, the functioning of the Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee, and environmental challenges such as pollution, waterlogging and deteriorating civic infrastructure.
Beyond hard news, Leena has extensively documented Haryana's rich heritage, forests and wildlife, bringing attention to the state's historical landmarks, biodiversity, conservation efforts and ecological challenges through immersive reportage and feature writing.
Her journalism has consistently gone beyond breaking news. She has documented Gurugram's rapid urbanisation through long-form narratives and enterprise reporting on issues ranging from pothole-ridden roads, flooding and waste management to the changing social fabric of India's Millennium City. She also writes widely read feature columns, including The Outsider, Changemaker, and Concern for Gurugram, profiling people, places and ideas shaping the city's identity.
Leena is the author of Gurugram School Murder, published by Juggernaut Books, a deeply reported account of one of India's most high-profile school murder investigations. She is currently working on her second book, an investigative work exploring some of India's most significant scams and fraud investigations.
Beyond print journalism, she has expanded her storytelling through public speaking and digital media. She is a TEDx speaker and has produced podcasts exploring Gurugram's transformation, civic challenges and untold stories. Her work reflects a commitment to narrative journalism that combines rigorous reporting with compelling storytelling.
A law graduate with an MBA in Human Resources, Leena brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her reporting, particularly on governance, public policy and legal affairs. She has travelled extensively across India to pursue investigative assignments, often reporting from remote locations and conflict-prone areas in search of stories that matter.
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