Court awards death for rape, murder of 5-yr-old

In a speedy trial, a 53-year-old man was on Friday sentenced to death by a court here for rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in January.

While pronouncing the verdict, Additional Sessions Judge P H Mali observed that the case fell under the “rarest of rare” category as the victim had been done to death in the most cruel manner and a young life was snuffed out.

Prosecutor Sangeeta Phad had sought death penalty for the accused, Dattu Ambo Rokade, stating that such an inhuman act deserved nothing less than capital punishment.
Also, circumstantial evidence and statements of Rokade’s wife and son that he was capable of committing such a heinous act, nailed the accused.  

The incident took place on January 22 when the victim was playing near her house, while her elder brother and sister were watching TV. The victim’s parents were out for work, investigating officer Pushpa Chavan Dighe told the court.

Rokade lured the victim into his house and then sexually assaulted her, Dighe said.
When the victim’s parents were unable to trace her, they lodged a police complaint. During the early hours of the following day, they found their dead daughter at the entrance to their house, disrobed. The accused after raping the victim had strangulated her to death and packed her in a gunny bag.