Man gets death penalty for raping, murdering five-year-old girl

A court here on Tuesday awarded death penalty to a 23-year-old man for raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in December 2017.

Judge B Suresh Babu of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge (MSJ) Court found Dinesh Kumar Dharne, a labourer, guilty under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSOAct), IPC section 302 (murder) and other provisions, police said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1,000, a release from Cyberabad Police Commissionerate said. According to the prosecution, on December 12, 2017, he lured the girl from a shop on the guise of providing chocolate. She was taken to nearby bushes where he raped her and murdered her by hitting her head with a boulder.

When he returned to the labour camp the girl's mother asked him about her daughter. But, he replied that he had dropped her at the camp some time ago and she might be playing somewhere.

The girl's family members (a native of Odisha State) were working as labourers and used to stay at a labour camp in Narsingi Police Station limits here.

The woman later filed a complaint with the police against the man.

The accused, a native of Madhya Pradesh, was subsequently arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

Police said after committing the offence, he joined the crowd at the labour camp and acted as a spectator when the parents were searching for their daughter.

Police raided his room and on interrogation, he confessed to having committed the offence, the release said.

Key witnesses were examined and the charge sheet was filed and steps were taken to conduct a speedy trial.

However, the accused absconded after obtaining bail and went into hiding in Madhya Pradesh and the trial was interrupted for a brief period.

Special Teams were formed to trace him and he was arrested. The Court directed authorities to keep the accused in judicial custody till the trial was completed.

The Telangana Police till now has successfully got seven death penalties awarded by courts pertaining to different cases of rape and murder of girls and a woman besides murder of nine people in Warangal district, the release added.