Sundargarh: In a landmark judgment Special POCSO Court, Sundargarh on Thursday awarded death penalty to a 40-year-old man for kidnap, rape and murder of 4-year-old girl in 2016.
Sundargarh Spl POCSO Court judge Mahendra Kumar Sutradhar after convicting Sanjeeb Kerketta of Dengibhadi under Town police limits of Sundargarh district under sections 450,366,376(2)(i), 376(A), 302, 201, of IPC and section 6 of POCSO Act sentenced him to death and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for each offences punishable under section 376(A), 302 of the IPC.
The court also sentenced convict Kerketta to rigorous imprisonment (RI) for 20 years and fine of Rs 5,000 for each of the offences punishable under sections 376(2)(i) of the IPC and under section 6 of the POCSO Act and RI for a period of five years and fine of Rs 3,000 for each of the offences punishable under sections 201, 450, and 366 of IPC.
Kerketta was arrested on 27 October 2017 and has undergone detention for 5 years 11 months and 15 days during trial.
“The incident took place at Dengibadi of Sundargarh on 21 October, 2016. The convict had kidnapped the victim while she was sleeping. He had raped her and then murdered her. The court recorded the statements of as many as 35 witnesses before awarding the convict with death sentence today,” informed Debasis Mishra, Public Prosecutor.