A COURT in Mathura on Monday awarded death sentence to a 28-year-old youth for sexually assaulting and then murdering a nine-year-old boy. The body of the victim was found lying near his residence on April 9, a day after he went missing. The police arrested the accused, who was working at the shop of the victim's father. The police investigated and filed a chargesheet against the accused on April 24 and the court held the accused guilty on May 26 . “On Monday, the accused was produced before the court. The court awarded the accused death sentence and also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him,” said government counsel, Mathura, Alka Upmanyu , adding that in all 14 prosecution witnesses were examined by the court. The accused was convicted under IPC section 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 377 (unnatural offences) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. According to the prosecution, the victim went missing on April 8. The next day, police recovered the body of the victim from a nearby farm. On the basis of the post-mortem report, the police included sections 302, 377, 201 and POCSO Act in the case. The post-mortem report stated that the boy was sodomised before being strangled to death. With the help of CCTV footage, surveillance and forensic reports, the police identified the accused and arrested him.
