Man gets death sentence for raping, murdering 9-year-old girl in Bihar

On August 25, a 9-year-old minor girl was raped and murdered in a village in Gopalganj’s Sidhwalia police station limits, around 130 kilometres from the state capital Patna.

Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Bihar’s Gopalganj sentenced 20-year-old Jaikishor Shah to death for raping and murdering a minor girl on Saturday. The court also directed the government to pay additional compensation to the victim’s mother.

The culprit was caught within 24 hours of committing the crime. (Representational Photo)

On August 25, a 9-year-old minor girl was raped and murdered in a village in Gopalganj’s Sidhwalia police station limits, around 130 kilometres from the state capital Patna. The village is close to Uttar Pradesh (UP) border.

Gopalganj SP Anand Kumar said the minor’s body was found stuffed in a gunny bag in a steel box at Jaikishor Shah’s house, located in Bakhraur village, about 200 metres from the victim’s place. After committing the crime, the suspect fled the village but was arrested within 24 hours.

During interrogation Shah confessed to raping and murdering the girl while she was visiting his house to play with his two year old son.

The court of additional district and session judge-6 Balendra Shukla announced death sentence to the accused, convicting him under sections 302, 376 (A,B) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under section 4/6/8 and 10 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for rape and murder.

Special public prosecutor Daroga Singh said police submitted the charge-sheet within two months while the judgment came within 25 days of framing of charges against the culprit.

Earlier on February 15, the POCSO court in Patna awarded death penalty to a private school principal Arvind Kumar alias Raj Singhania after holding him guilty of repeatedly raping an 11-year-old female student inside the institution premises. The victim had later become pregnant. Besides Singhania, the court also handed over rigorous life imprisonment to schoolteacher Abhishek Kumar (29) for conniving with Arvind.