CHANDIGARH: A fast-track court of Panipat on Friday announced death sentence for two after they were convicted for the gangrape and murder of a 12-year-old girl in January 2018 in a case of POCSO Act. This is believed to be the first double capital punishment in Haryana in the case of POCSO Act.
Sagar alias Kallu and Pardeep, both residents of a village in Matlauda of Panipat, were convicted by the court of additonal districts and sessions judge (ADJ) Sumit Garg, the presiding officer of the fast-track court who pronounced the quantum of punishment on Friday.
While announcing the death row for rape and murder, after classifying the crime in rare of the rarest category, the ADJ has also slapped cash penalty as well as imprisonment to both the convicted condemned prisioners while releasing their death warrants to jail superintendent. The death row is subjected to the confirmation from Punjab and Haryana high court and the rest of the sentence will run concurrently. No fine has been deposited by the convicts.
It took four years, one month and four days for the family of the girl — maternal uncle and grandfather —to get justice from the court. Incident dates back to Januaury 13, 2018, when the girl had gone missing from her maternal uncle’s house where she lived since childhood. Next day, her nakeddead body was found abandoned near the pond of the village chaupal.
Convicts Pardeep and Sagar and initially gone into hiding, but they had made an extra judicial confession before a village man about the crime committed by them.
The two accused had said under the influence of liquor, they had kidnapped the girl and strangulated her to death and abandoned the dead body near the waste water pond. Meanwhile, acting on the complaint of the girl’s maternal uncle, who identified the body, police had started the investigations after registring the cases under sections 302,201, 366A, 376A of the India Penal Act and the relevant sections of POCSO Act at Matlauda police station of Panipat.
Pardeep and Sagar were under custody and police has made recoveries of case properties from them. Since then the case had been under trial in the fastrack court.
