‘Rarest of rare’: UP court sentences trader to death for 3-year-old’s rape-murder

The convict, Sunil Kumar Nishad, 35, a trader and farmer, was arrested soon after he committed the crime and was in jail since, it is learnt.

The court announced the sentence after holding him guilty of murder, kidnapping, wrongful confinement, and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on Monday.

Government counsel Kamal Singh Gautam said, “Additional District Judge (POCSO) Pradeep Kumar Mishra, after terming the case “rarest of the rare”, awarded the death sentence to Sunil Kumar on Monday. During the trial, statements of 11 prosecution witnesses and one defence witness were recorded. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 65,000 on the convict.”

Gautam added that a DNA test of the accused and the victim was conducted, and their belongings were sent for re-examination. The report confirmed a match, strengthening the case against Nishad.

Defence counsel Mool Chand Kushwaha said they would file a petition against the judgment.

According to the prosecution, the victim’s father lodged a complaint against Nishad on June 3, saying the accused lured his daughter on the pretext of giving her a toffee. He said that many people had seen the child with Nishad just before her disappearance.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case and arrested Nishad after an encounter in which he was injured. During questioning, he admitted to sexually assaulting the child and led the investigators to the spot where he had dumped the girl, police said.

The child was found unconscious inside a box with multiple injuries. She was taken to hospital but succumbed to her injuries on June 12.

At least 12 injuries were found on her body.

The prosecution said Nishad first assaulted the child at his house and then strangled her. Believing her to be dead, he put the child in a box and took it on his bicycle to a thicket a few kilometres away and abandoned her. After a case was filed against him by the child’s family, Nishad even fired at police with a country-made pistol in an attempt to escape, the prosecution added. In retaliatory firing, he sustained a bullet injury to his leg and was admitted to hospital for treatment under police custody.