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Journalism of Courage
A SPECIAL POCSO court in Valsad on Thursday handed down the death sentence to a 42-year-old man convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering a minor girl in 2023.
The court of Justice H N Vakil also directed that a compensation of Rs 17 lakh should be paid to the victim’s family.
The convict, who police identified as Razak Khan, is presently lodged at the Surat Central Jail
Sources said that this is the second instance of capital punishment handed down by the same POCSO court. The first was in 2023, when another minor girl was raped and killed.
Surat District Government Pleader Nayan Sukhadwala said after the verdict on Thursday, “Bite marks were found on the victim’s body. The clothes she was wearing were used by the accused to strangulate her. CCTV footage shows that after the crime, the accused went to a nearby stall, drank tea and smoked a cigarette. The accused is the father of three children, and his youngest daughter is the same age as the victim.”
He added, “The accused had been luring the victim with chocolates and biscuits every day for six days prior to the crime. The court had taken into consideration the circumstantial evidence, with medical evidence and statements of witnesses.”
The case dates back to October 23, 2023, when the girl left her house around 11:15 am to meet her grandfather. When she did not return after a few hours, her mother reached her father’s workplace and found that the girl had left around 1.5 hours earlier.
She and some neighbours searched for her, but to no avail. Later the same day, she approached the local police station and registered a kidnapping complaint.
Multiple teams of the Valsad district police soon reached the area and conducted a large-scale search operation. Over 250 local residents also joined the search.
The girl’s body was found lying in the bushes near a pond and was identified by her mother and grandfather.
On the basis of the autopsy report, police registered an offence under several IPC sections, including those pertaining to kidnapping, rape and murder.
The police checked CCTV footage of nearby areas and spotted a man seen walking with the victim.
After a two-day manhunt, police identified and nabbed the accused, Razak Khan, on October 26, 2023.
Khan was produced before a court, and sent to police custody for nine days. The police had carried out a medical examination of the accused, and samples of the accused and the victim were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Surat for DNA profiling. The Valsad police followed all the procedures, collected necessary evidence, took statements and submitted a chargesheet against the accused in the special POCSO court.
Surat District Government Pleader Nayan Sukhadwala was later appointed as special DGP to fight the case from the prosecution side.
The court’s order was yet to be uploaded on the Valsad court website as of late evening on Thursday.
Defence lawyer H D Modi told The Indian Express, “The capital punishment on my client is very harsh. There are specific points we have presented before that the court did not consider. We will challenge this verdict in the Gujarat High Court once we get a copy of the judgment.”
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