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Andhra man sentenced to hang for raping, killing 5-year-old girl
The girl, along with her parents, had gone to a wedding at the function hall on the evening of November 7, 2019. She was seen with her parents till 10pm but went missing later.
A local court in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor district on Monday sentenced a 25-year old man to death for raping and killing a five-year-old girl in November last year, an official release from the chief minister’s office said.
Chittoor first additional district and sessions judge Justice M Venkata Harinath ordered that Patan Mohammad Rafi, who had committed the offence at a marriage hall Korabalakota town of B Kothakota block in the district, be hanged to death.
The girl, along with her parents, had gone to a wedding at the function hall on the evening of November 7, 2019. She was seen with her parents till 10pm but went missing later.
When her parents could not find the girl even after the wedding was over, they started looking for her.
Her parents, who lodged a complaint with the police early on November 8, 2019, suspected that a young man who was taking pictures of their daughter on his mobile phone, might have kidnapped her.
Within a few hours, the police found the girl’s body, with her clothes removed and scratches on her face and other body parts, in the bushes behind the wedding hall.
The investigation was taken up by Mudivedu sub-inspector of police M Sukumar, who established the identity of Rafi on November 12, 2019, and arrested him on November 16, within nine days of the crime.
After an investigation based on medical reports of the deceased, forensic reports, potency test conducted on Rafi and an identification parade, the police filed a charge sheet in the court on December 10, 2019.
“The trial commenced on December 31 and went on till January 20. The court continued to hear arguments till February 22 and the judgement was delivered awarding death sentence on Rafi on Monday,” the CMO release said.
