Kolkata man who raped 7-year-old neighbour, smashed her head, gets death penalty | Kolkata
KOLKATA: A special Alipore court on Thursday awarded the death penalty for a man convicted of rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in the city’s Tiljala area in March 2023, lawyers who attended the hearing said.
The convict, Ashok Shaw, lured his neighbour’s little daughter to his apartment with chocolates, raped her and then smashed her head with a hammer. The girl’s mutilated body was found in his kitchen, said a police officer who had investigated the gruesome crime. There were 28 wounds on her body, he added.
The case was tried by a special court notified for cases registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.
As he handed down the death sentence to Shaw, special Pocso judge Sudipto Bhattacharya described the crime as rarest of the rare.
The state government had handed the case to the city police’s detective department following mass protests and even instances of vandalism.
“The court heard 45 witnesses, including the victim’s parents and forensic experts, during the trial,” the officer cited above said.
The crime took place on the morning of March 26 last year.
The girl, who lived in an apartment building, went to buy a packet of milk from the local market but did not return home. Her family informed the police. Footage from security cameras in the area showed the girl heading for home after buying the milk.
Her body was found in the convict’s flat during a search of the building.
“The girl’s mutilated body was found inside a jute bag hidden in the convict’s kitchen. Forensic reports confirmed that she was gagged and tied up when she was abused. The convict hit her on the head with a hammer to kill her,” public prosecutor Shibnath Adhikari told reporters.
Thursday’s sentence comes weeks after West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee cabinet on September 10 decided to set up five more fast-track courts for Pocso cases.
On September 3, the state assembly also passed the Aparajita Woman and Child (West Bengal Criminal Laws Amendment) Bill, 2024, piloted by chief minister Mamata Banerjee following the nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate trainee doctor at a government hospital in Kolkata.
During the discussion on the Bill, Banerjee said Bengal has 88 fast track courts and 62 Pocso courts. The Bill has been forwarded to the President by governor CV Ananda Bose.
