Vadodara: A labourer, who had sodomized and murdered a four-year-old boy in Piludra village of Bharuch’s Jambusar taluka, sentenced to death by additional sessions court in Bharuch, on Thursday.
The boy was playing near his house on April 13, 2016 when the convict Shambhu Padhiyar lured him with an offer to buy an ice-cream. The boy’s aunt also Padhiyar walking away with the boy and she immediately asked him where was taking him. Padhiyar told her also that he was going to buy him an ice-cream.
However, Padhiyar took him into the bushes behind a dargah near the village pond where he sodomized him. Padhiyar then strangled the boy to death and left from there. When the boy’s body was found, a complaint of murder, kidnapping, and violation of section 4 and 6 of Prevention of Sexual Offences Against Children Act (Pocso) Act was registered at Vedach police station. After postmortem confirmed that the boy was sexually assaulted, Padhiyar was also booked under section 377 of Indian Penal Code which deals with unnatural sex.
Police arrested Padhiyar and filed chargesheet against him in Bharuch sessions court in July 2016. During the trial, public prosecutor R J Desai produced oral and documentary evidences against the accused, which included medical reports proving that the boy was sodomized and strangulated. The boy’s father was a priest in the village temple.
“There was enough circumstantial evidence against him. The boy’s aunt had seen him last with Padhiyar as also some shopkeepers in the market. Testimonies of all these people proved crucial in nailing Padhiyar,” said Desai. He added that some discoveries were made in the case on the basis of Padhiyar’s statement which was considered under section 27 of Indian Evidences Act.
Padhiyar was also sentenced to life imprisonment under Pocso Act and another 10-year imprisonment for kidnapping with murder.
Additional sessions judge H A Dave upheld the evidences and accounts of witnesses against Padhiyar. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on the convict.