Special judge Jagendra Kumar Agarwal of Alwar’s SC/ST court pronounced the decision in the case after 12 hearings over 22 days. (Representational)
A lower court in Rajasthan on Saturday awarded capital punishment to a 19-year-old youth for raping a seven-month-old child 73 days ago, making it the first such sentence in the state under the provisions of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which awards death penalty to those convicted of raping girls under the age of 12.
Special judge Jagendra Kumar Agarwal of Alwar’s SC/ST court pronounced the decision in the case after 12 hearings over 22 days.
Earlier this month, an additional district judge in Madhya Pradesh had convicted and sentenced a 40-year-old man to death for raping a nine-year-old within 46 days — one of the fastest rape trials in the country under the Ordinance.
Rajasthan DGP O P Galhotra confirmed this was the first conviction in the state under the Ordinance, which was brought in on April 21, in the wake of an outcry over the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua (J&K) and the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl in Unnao (UP).
Earlier this week, the Union Cabinet approved the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2018, which will be introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament. On May 9, father of the seven-month-old child, in a complaint to the police, accused the youth, Pintu, of raping his daughter. He was caught the next day and a case was lodged under IPC Sections 363 (kidnapping), 366A (procuration of minor girl) and relevant sections of the POCSO Act. The child’s medical report confirmed rape and the accused confessed to his crime, the police said.
The police probe was completed within 27 days. A challan was filed in the court under the POCSO Act and several IPC sections, including Section 376AB — introduced in the Ordinance.