Odisha man sentenced to death for raping, killing minor

Sending a strong message to sexual offenders, a fast track court in Odisha on Thursday sentenced a man to death for strangulating a three-year-old after raping her.

The court in the district headquarters of Sambalpur, about 317 kms from here, sentenced 26-year-old Thidu Munda after examining about 13 witnesses.

Additional district judge (fast track) Ashok Kumar Panda described the incident as rarest of the rare crime while pronouncing the death sentence, government lawyer Subrat Mohanty told reporters.

Munda had kidnapped the girl from her village Budhiapalli in the district October 4, 2012. After raping and murdering her, he had dumped the body in a forest near the village.

The decomposed body of the girl was found in the forest four days later while police arrested Munda on October 13. The court had pronounced Munda guilty January 11 but had reserved its order on the quantum of sentence.