A special court in Pune on Friday convicted a 28-year-old man and sentenced him to death for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in 2022.
Additional Sessions Judge BP Kshirsagar of special POCSO court, who tried the case, also sentenced the convict's 48-year-old mother to seven years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for destroying evidence in the case.
While handing down the death penalty, the court noted the case falls in the "rarest of the rare category" and the convict does not deserve any leniency for the heinous crime.
The minor girl was kidnapped from the courtyard of her house in a village under Maval tehsil of Pune district on August 2, 2022. Her body was found the next day with signs of sexual assault and throat injuries, as per the police.
During investigation, the name of one Tejas Dalvi cropped up. Further probe revealed he kidnapped the girl and took her to his house, where he sexually assaulted and later killed the minor by slitting her throat, they said.
The man then dumped the girl's body in a pit below a tree behind his house and Dalvi's mother helped him destroy evidence of the brutal crime, said the police.
Police arrested both the accused and charged them under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
Judge Kshirsagar held the mother-son duo guilty on different charges. While the court sentenced Dalvi to death, it handed seven-year RI to his mother.
Special Public Prosecutor Rajesh Kavediya examined 29 witnesses during the trial.
