Bengal POCSO court awards death sentence to three men in rape and murder case of 15-year-old girl-OxBig News Network

A special court in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal has awarded death sentence to three men for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl. The case dates back to 2020, when the girl’s body was reportedly found in an under-construction septic tank.

The convicts, Rahaman Ali, Jamirul, and Tamirul, all aged between 27 and 35 years, hailed from local villages in Jalpaiguri. They used to work at an automobile garage and knew the victim. They were accused of abducting the victim, raping and sexually abusing her for days before murdering her. The three reportedly dumped the victim’s body in an under-construction septic tank in the neighbourhood to destroy evidence.

The victim was a Class 10 student at a local madrasa. The family of the deceased girl filed a missing person complaint in August 2020.

“The verdict, where all three accused were convicted and sentenced to death, is unprecedented in the history of Jalpaiguri district,” Debashish Dutta, government pleader in the special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court, told reporters.

The police had charged the three men under sections of kidnapping, wrongful detention, gang rape, murder and destruction of evidence.

The court, while awarding the death sentences, observed that the crime fell under the “rarest of the rare” category.

According to reports, the three men took the victim to separate locations, including hotels, where they sexually assaulted her. They had kidnapped the girl from her home and her decomposed body was finally retrieved 12 days after the girl disappeared.

“The court heard 27 witnesses during the trial,” Mr. Dutta added. “We sought justice. We are happy with the court order,” the victim’s father told the local media.