Man gets life term for rape, murder

Rajkot: A special court in Morbi sentenced a 25-year-old man to life imprisonment convicting him for rape and murder of a minor. Additional district and sessions judge D P Mahida also ordered the state government to pay Rs 5 lakh as compensation to the kin and imposed Rs 28,000 penalty on the accused to be paid to the victim’s family.
According to the case details, accused Suraj Chouhan, a native of Bihar and working in a ceramic industry in Morbi had kidnapped a two-and-half-years girl in May 2018. He then raped the toddler and threw her in a lake where she died of drowning. Chouhan has been convicted under IPC sections 302, 376 (2), 376 (A)(B) and under POCSO Act.
Assistant public prosecutor Sanjay Dave appeared on behalf of the prosecution and produced 44 documentary evidence before the court as well as 24 oral evidence during the trial.