Two get death for minor's rape-murder

Jodhpur : : A special court in the city on Tuesday sentenced two persons to death for the abduction, gang-rape and murder of a minor girl in a "dastardly and grisly" manner.

The convicts, Shravan Singh and Ghewar Singh, were charged with abducting a minor girl from her home in village Rinva in Barmer's Chohtan sub-division on March 29-30, 2013, and gang-raping her.

Her body was found dumped in the mounds around the area the next day. Police arrested five persons and booked them under various sections of IPC, SC/ST Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Terming the crime the rarest of the rare, special judge Vamita Singh said death sentence was required to ensure justice.

Apart from the two convicts, the court also convicted the co-accused Shankar Singh, Prahlad Singh and Narsing for hiding the crime and pressuring the victim and the family to withdraw the case. They were sentenced to seven-year rigorous imprisonment.

The court turned down the defence counsel plea for a milder sentence. The plea said the accused are fathers of small children and have no criminal antecedents. "A minor girl was abducted and gang-raped without any provocation and brutally murdered and the murder was so gruesome that it stirred the conscience of the society... only the death sentence would do justice," the court said.