Condemned

He allegedly lured the child by offering her sweets and took her to an isolated place. He reportedly smashed her head with a stone, chopped off her legs to remove her anklets, and had intercourse with the body. Later, he mortgaged the anklets for Rs 1,000.

Kishan fled the scene and went into hiding for several days, but was arrested by Navrangpura police. Terming the case ‘‘rarest of rare,’’ the judge said: ‘‘It is clearly a rarest of rare case, considering that the crime was perpetrated by a heartless and cruel man on an innocent and helpless child.’’

‘‘A person who has carried out such heinous and devilish deed — murdering a six-year-old girl and then having intercourse with her body, has no right to live in this society,’’ he added.

During the trial, the court recorded statements of 14 witnesses, including family members of the accused and the victim, doctors of VS Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem, Forensic Science Laboratory experts and investigating officers.

The doctor’s deposition and the post-mortem report had confirmed the girl was first killed. Police had also recovered the blood-stained stone used to kill the girl and the knife used to chop her legs. The Dhananjoy case also found mention in the public prosecutor’s arguments, who contended that the crime committed by Marwadi deserved nothing less than death sentence as punishment as it was ‘‘much more brutal and inhuman’’ than Dhananjoy’s case.

When judge Sayyed asked the accused if he had anything to say, Marwadi asked the court to ‘‘show mercy on him’’. Marwadi pleaded not guilty to the charges and has been booked under Sections 302, 376, 369, 363 and 354 of the IPC.