SURAT: The 27-year-old man, convict of rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Hazira has been sentenced to imprisonment for life by a local court in Surat on Wednesday.
The man was convicted by the court on December 23.
The convict Sujit Saket had kidnapped, raped, subjected the minor to unnatural sex and killed her by hitting a brick on her head on April 30. The convict had strangled the minor to ensure that she was dead.
The court of P S Kala, additional sessions judge and special judge for Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act convicted and punished Saket. "It is a heinous crime and the court announced the punishment based on strong evidence," said Nayan Sukhadwala, district government pleader.
The court examined 26 witnesses and 53 documentary pieces of evidence before announcing the judgment.
Body of the minor, daughter of a migrant worker, was found in bushes around 150 metres away from her home. She was playing near her home in the morning and at around 10 am her mother realised that she was missing. She searched for her and on failing to locate her she informed her husband who was at work. The family is from Madhya Pradesh and father of the deceased is labourer at an industry in Hazira.
The mother went to take a bath and when she returned the minor was not found. The family initially searched but failed to locate her. Various police teams were formed to search the minor and during the search operation her body was found.
During the search, the body was found in late afternoon. Police sent the body for post mortem in which rape, unnatural sex and murder was confirmed.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
