Man gets double death sentence for rape, murder of 6-year-old niece on ‘Kanya Bhoj’

“On this day, Hindu women traditionally invite nine young girls to their homes, worship them as embodiments of Goddess Durga, offer them food and give them gifts. On the date of the incident, the victim had enthusiastically dressed up and gone to her paternal aunt’s grandmother’s house to participate in the Kanya Bhoj. However, on the very day of the Kanya Bhoj, the accused, who was her own paternal uncle, committed such an inhuman crime against her,” the judge said on September 10.

The court said when children are sexually assaulted by family members rather than outsiders, “the question arises as to how girls can remain safe outside”. Which is why the “harshest possible punishment” was even more fitting in this case, it said.

“The victim was merely a 6-year-old girl who, after being subjected to the most brutal form of rape by the accused, was also murdered. The victim had the right to live her life to its full potential. However, the crime committed by the accused not only brought her life to an end at the tender age of 6 years, but also constituted a betrayal of the trust inherent in the relationship by her own paternal uncle,” said the court.

The court referred to the 2012 Nirbhaya murder case and added that the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was enacted across the country and, from time to time, the quantum of punishment under it was amended under the law. While the goal was to deter such crimes, the court said, the fact was that they had risen instead.

7 lakh compensation to family

The court noted that laws meant to reform offenders do not seem to be working on them. “Merely keeping offenders in custody and making arrangements for their maintenance does not appear to be reducing the criminal propensity in their minds,” it said.

The judge also ordered compensation of Rs 7 lakh for the child’s family, pointing to their “mental trauma and suffering” on learning that the crime was committed by her own paternal uncle.

The FIR was filed under the POCSO Act against the man in April 2025. The child had gone to her grandmother’s house to attend a traditional Navkanya Bhoj feast, marking the Ram Navami festival. When she did not return for hours, her father searched the neighborhood and finally reported her missing.

Late that evening, the child’s body was found in a car parked at an open lot near her grandmother’s house. She was found on the floorboard between the driver’s seat and the back seat. She was immediately rushed to the district hospital, where she was declared dead.

The prosecution’s case was that the post-mortem and medical reports revealed severe internal injuries and bleeding resulting from sexual assault.

Necessary to send message: Order

The court noted that after the assault, the accused allegedly hid the severely injured body in another person’s car, attempted to “conceal” the offence and implicate the car owner, and even joined the family in searching for the child. When the body was discovered, he allegedly attacked the car owner. The court treated this as an attempt to destroy evidence and falsely implicate an innocent person.

The court said the vaginal and anal assault on the girl was not simply an attack on the child’s “body” but also a cruel assault on her human “dignity, mind, and soul”, ending her life at about six years of age.

The court said these five circumstances made the case “rarest of rare” and justified a combination of deterrent, retributive, and preventive theories of punishment. It observed that the harshest punishment was necessary to send a message, particularly because children may be endangered if such grave sexual assaults are committed by family members themselves.