In a landmark judgement, a 60-year-old man, earlier arrested for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl, was sentenced to death by a special court for POCSO cases in Sangareddy on Thursday. The court also ordered a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family.
A death sentence was announced in Sangareddy after 27 years, said the SP of the district Ch. Rupesh.
Explaining the case, the officer said that on October 16, 2023, the accused, Gaffar Khan, a migrant labour from Bihar, lured the girl by offering soft drink and took her to a nearby cotton field to rape and kill her. “The girl and her parents, also natives of Bihar, were working as daily wage labourers along with Khan in the same site. He lured her away when her parents were at work and throttled her to death after raping her,” said the SP.
Following a missing case, Khan was pulled up for questioning based on eyewitness accounts and CCTV cameras in the area. “He was last seen with the girl in the vicinity. During the interrogation, he confessed to the crime and took our officials to show the body,” added the officer.
Based on the findings, his confessional statement and other evidence in the case, the Sangareddy police had requested for a fast track trial, which the High Court sanctioned. “The trial and deposition was a challenge as the parents were from a economically poor background. Our officers hired translators and helped them in the case,” said the SP.
On Thursday, during the trial, the Sangareddy POCSO court judge K. Jayanthi awarded the death sentence to Khan.
Published - September 13, 2024 04:27 am IST
