BHOPAL: A 40-year-old man was awarded the death sentence on Tuesday by the Rehli town sessions court in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh for raping a 10-year-old student on July 18 this year. Investigations in the case were completed in a record three days.

Additional public prosecutor PL Rawat told reporters that additional district judge Sudhanshu Saxena ordered to send Naresh Parihar to the gallows after sentencing him under IPC Section 376, which was recently amended by the state government. Madhya Pradesh assembly had unanimously passed a bill last December to include the provision for awarding death penalty to persons accused of raping girls aged 12 or below.

This is the third such conviction in Sagar district in which rapists of girls under 12 years have been awarded the death sentence. The same court had pronounced death to an accused a month ago, while a court at Khurai town in the same district too awarded capital punishment to another accused for raping a minor.

Sagar SP Satyandra Shukla said, “In case of rape attempt on a minor, if any object is inserted in private parts of the survivor, it amounts to rape. This is why Naresh was booked under IPC Section 376.”Post 3-day probe, man gets death for raping minor

