Man awarded capital punishment for raping eight-year-old girl

A lower court in Ashta tehsil near Sehore in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday awarded capital punishment to a man for raping a minor eight-year-old girl.

First Additional Sessions Judge, Alka Dube awarded capital punishment to him under Section 376 (E) (a person previously convicted of an offence punishable for rape and subsequently convicted of an offence punishable under any of the related sections shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with death), Section 366 and Section 363 (both relating to kidnapping) of Indian Penal Code. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on the man identified as Ramesh Verma (30).

Verma had raped the minor girl on January 4, 2014 at village Nipania after abducting her. Prior to this incident, Verma was convicted by a Shujalpur court in Shajapur district for five years for raping a five-year-old girl. He was released from the jail after completing his punishment. However, on the basis of suspicion and leads provided by the victim, police again zeroed on him and later arrested him again.