The sensational case of rape and murder of an infant in Warangal city 50 days ago ended in death sentence to the 21-year-old accused here on Thursday.
The First Additional Judge cum Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) special court Judge K. Jaya Kumar held the accused P. Praveen guilty and awarded him death sentence. The victim’s family members, local people and the lawyers who assembled in large number at the court building hailed the verdict observing that the culprit got the right punishment.
Warangal police commissioner V Ravinder, describing the verdict as historic, said it will act as a deterrent to persons with ill-intentions and infuse confidence among the general public. This was one of the quickly disposed cases in the country, he observed.
While the offence was committed on June 18 this year, the investigators filed the charge-sheet in less than two weeks. The special court held the trial examining 42 witnesses and delivered the verdict in less than 50 days. The accused abducted the infant on the night of June 18 from the lap of her mother – who was asleep in their house in Kumarpally in Hanamkonda town. He violated her before strangling her to death, the police said recalling the case.
Though the victim’s relatives and local residents caught the accused within a few hours of abducting the infant, the girl was sexually assaulted and killed by then. Investigators registered a case under different sections of Indian Penal Code and the provisions of the POCSO Act.
Mr Ravinder said the police left no stone unturned in gathering all the evidence in a scientific manner. “ They laboured hard to secure DNA, post-mortem, FSL and other reports to ensure that the accused gets maximum punishment.”
“We all worked as a team and requested the judicial officials for speedy trial,” he said complimenting the ACP Ch. Sridhar, Inspectors A. Sampath and P. Sadaiah.
The rape and murder of the infant had evoked a massive public outcry across the country and public in unison demanded death to the accused.
The accused Praveen burst into tears stating that he was in an inebriated condition but did not commit any crime.
