2010 Kurla rape-murder accused Javed Rehman Sheikh sentenced to life imprisonment until death

Javed Rehman Sheikh, accused in connection with rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in suburban Kurla in 2010, was on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment until death.

Special Judge Vrushali Joshi had convicted Javed Sheikh (aged around 25) on September 5 for the crime.

"The court has sentenced Javed Sheikh to life on the charges of kidnapping, rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in June 2010," Special Public Prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said.

Gharat told reporters outside the court that the sentence implies that the convict would have to spend his life in jail till death.

Sheikh was arrested on July 1, 2010 on charges of raping and killing the minor girl.

The girl's body was found inside an unoccupied shanty in Nehru Nagar's Vatsalatai Nagar slum on June 19, 2010, after the neighbours complained of foul smell. The girl had gone missing on June 5 that year.

The medical report confirmed that the girl had been raped following which Sheikh, an employee of a local cable operator, was arrested in the case.

The police had in August 2010 filed a 325-page charge sheet against Sheikh which consisted of statements of around 45 witnesses, medical reports, forensic reports and DNA test report.