A man who was convicted for raping his 12-year-old daughter and then killed her and his wife after coming out on parole has been awarded death sentence by a court in Ludhiana.

District and Sessions Judge G K Rai termed the crime of Mohinder Singh as “rarest of rare” and pronounced that he be hanged till death.

Mohinder Singh, hailing from Partap Singh Wala village near Ludhiana, who is a father of four children, had been awarded 11-year imprisonment in 2001 for raping his 12-year old daughter in 1999 after the victim daughter and his wife, Veena, lodged a complaint with the police.

After coming out on parole in 2006, he started living separately from his family. Police said he had harboured intentions of revenge from his daughter and wife whose complaint had sent him to jail.

On the night of January 8, 2006, Mohinder Singh barged into the house where his family was staying and hacked his wife and daughter to death. His youngest daughter present in the house at the time saved her life by bolting herself in an adjoining room. The convict’s only son, Malkit Singh, had gone to drop his married sister (eldest daughter of Mohinder) in a neighbouring village on the fateful day.

Malkit had told the court that his father had earlier tried to kill his mother with a knife. The prosecution said that Mohinder had been threatening to kill his wife and daughter for long.

The Sessions judge held that Mohinder had committed the murder intentionally and awarded him death sentence in view his brutal behaviour in the past.

The court verdict has come as a relief for the three children of Mohinder who have been mortally afraid of their father ever since he killed their mother and sister.