A man was sentenced to death by a district court in northern Assam on December 21 for raping and killing a five-year-old girl two years ago.
The accused, Mangal Paik, was sentenced to death by Bishwanath district additional sessions court judge Dipankar Bora who convicted Paik under Section 376 (A) of the Indian Penal Code that deals with sexual offences leading to death along with Section 302 (murder).
The court also sentenced him to life imprisonment under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and imposed a fine of Rs 7,000.
The Assam court under Section 363 (kidnapping) of the IPC also awarded a seven-year jail term to the accused besides slapping a fine of Rs 3,000.
The man had lured the little girl by giving her a chocolate and took her to a lonely place in a tea garden (under Sootea police station area) where he raped her before strangulating her to death in November 2018.
According to the police, the convict, who belonged to Lokhra Burhagaon area of the adjoining Sonitpur district in Assam, was a relative of the victim and had come to her home occasionally for certain works.
Public prosecutor Jahnavi Kalita told the media that in all 16 witnesses, including doctors, police personnel and villagers, were examined during the trial.
