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Karnataka HC confirms death for three men who gang raped 7-yr-old, killed her
The high court said the crime was a “diabolical” act that shocked the collective conscience of society and that it must be curbed with “iron hands”
The Karnataka high court has upheld the death sentence awarded to three men convicted for the gang rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, holding that the crime was “barbaric and inhuman,” and that it fell within the “rarest of rare category”.
In its order on February 6, a bench of justices HP Sandesh and Venkatesh Naik T said the crime was a “diabolical” act that shocked the collective conscience of society and crimes such as this must be curbed with “iron hands.”
The high court confirmed the death sentence imposed by a designated court for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) cases in Mangaluru and said that imposing a lesser sentence would send a wrong message to society and the public at large in cases involving the brutal sexual assault and murder of a child.
It said the girl was just seven years old when she was raped and then murdered to silence her. It said a lesser punishment would undermine the gravity of the offence and fail to serve the goals of deterrence and societal denunciation in cases involving brutal sexual violence against children.
“The accused persons inhumanely, in a brutal manner subjected the victim girl, who is aged about 7 years and 7 months for continuous sexual act one by one, without caring for the life of the victim and the same is nothing but a barbaric act of gang rape,” the high court said.
The incident took place in November 2021. The victim’s parents were migrant workers living on the premises of a tile factory on the outskirts of Mangaluru. The three convicts also worked at the same place.
According to the prosecution, they had been planning the crime for months and on the day of the incident, while she was playing outside with her siblings, they lured the victim with some sweets and candies, and got her into a room without CCTV cameras. The three took turns to rape her. When the child screamed, they covered her mouth and pressed her neck, which led to her death “on the spot.”
The convicts, along with the fourth accused, who jumped bail during the trial, then dumped the dead body in a drain and covered it with bricks.
Confirming the death sentence, the high court held that the prosecution had successfully established an unbroken chain of circumstances pointing to their guilt. The bench noted that the evidence on record — including forensic material, CCTV footage, witness testimonies and medical evidence — clearly demonstrated “premeditation, collective participation and an attempt to destroy evidence after the crime.”
It took note of the trial court’s findings that the offence was marked by extreme brutality and barbarity and that the rape and murder of a minor amounted to a grave assault on the dignity of the child and the conscience of society.
The high court said it found no meaningful mitigating circumstances apart from the young age of the accused, which by itself was not determinative. Applying the constitutional requirement of respect for human life under Article 21, while also following the principles laid down by the Supreme Court, the high court held that where crimes against children or helpless women are “exceptionally cruel, inhuman, and brutal,” the balance tilts decisively in “favour of the death penalty.”
