A Bengaluru court awarded the death penalty to a man convicted of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in April 2017.
The crime was committed in Veerabhadra Nagar in the city on April 20, 2017. The accused, Anil Balagar, was a neighbour of the victim’s grandfather. The victim had come to visit her grandfather, when the accused lured her away, raped her and murdered her.
The next day, the grandfather of the victim filed a missing complaint in the Girinagar Police Station informing them that his granddaughter was missing since the evening of April 20.
“The girl was playing outside her grandfather’s home. She went missing at 6.15pm and attempts to find her went in vain. Around 8pm, Balagar informed people that he had to leave for his native place,” public prosecutor Channa Venkataramanappa said as per Times of India.
“Three days later, foul smell emanating from Balagar’s house caught the attention of neighbours. On breaking it open, police found the girl’s body,” he added.
A case was registered under the POCSO Act and Anil was arrested. Later, Anil confessed that he killed the girl after raping her.
On Sunday, just over a year after the gruesome incident, Anil Balagar was given the death sentence for murder and ten years imprisonment for rape. Judge M Lathakumari in the 54th City Civil and Sessions court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict and awarded Rs 2 lakh compensation to the victim.
Although the sentence comes just days after the central government passed an Ordinance introducing death penalty for men raping a girl child under the age of 12, the court verdict is unconnected to the Ordinance, since the crime took place before the new law came in.