Three get death for rape in Jharkhand in less than a month of crime

A Jharkhand court on Tuesday handed down death sentence to three men for raping a six-year-old girl, killing her, and burying her body, a judgement that came in less than a month after the crime was committed.

Dumka district and sessions judge Taufik ul Hassan awarded capital punishment to Mithu Rai, an uncle of the victim, Pankaj Mohali and Ashok Rai, and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of them after convicting them of the crime under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The convicts are aged between 19 and 26 years. The crime came to light after the police found the girl's body from a place under Ramgarh police station of Dumka district on February 7, 2020.

During interrogation, the three men confessed they had raped the child on February 5, strangled her, and buried the body.

They were arrested on February 12 and police filed charge sheet within 14 days. The trial had begun on February 28, assistant public prosecutor Ramkinker Pandey said.