A court in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district sentenced a 40-year-old man to death on Saturday for raping a minor in May, PTI reported. The verdict came just 46 days after the incident.
Additional Sessions Judge Sudhanshu Saxena convicted Bhagirath Patel under Sections 376 (rape) and 366 (abduction) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Police framed charges against Patel last week. He was accused of luring the nine-year-old to a temple and raping her on May 21. He was arrested the next day.
“Police completed the investigation in three days and filed a chargesheet on May 25,” prosecution officer PL Rawat said. “A total of 25 witnesses were presented before the court which delivered the verdict today after hearing arguments from both sides during the past three days.”
In May, a district court in Indore had sentenced a man to death for raping and killing a four-month-old girl, three weeks after the crime.
The conviction came soon after the Centre promulgated an ordinance to allow death penalty for convicts of rape of girls below 12 years of age.
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