INDORE: A sessions court in Mandsaur on Tuesday awarded double death sentence to two accused for the rape and attempted murder of a seven-year- old girl in Mandsaur, which had sparked violent protests in the city on June 26.

This is the 14th death penalty awarded in the state, including all crimes, whereas 13th death sentence in sexual offences.

Special judge (POCSO) Nisha Gupta awarded the sentence to the accused Asif and Irfan on two counts. The accused had lured the girl while she was waiting for her father outside her school. They took her to an isolated location, raped her and tried to kill her by slitting her throat.

The accused have been granted death sentence under section 376 AB- the newly included section in the Indian Penal Code , providing for death sentence for persons committing rape with victims under 12 years of age and also under section 376 D- punishment for gang-rape.

This is the sixth death sentence in the state, after the ordinance for death penalty to rapists of girls below 12 years was implemented.

In this case, the police caught the two accused based on CCTV camera footage and eyewitness accounts.

The DNA found in the girl's vaginal swabs matched the DNA of the two accused and the pubic hair of the two accused were also found on the crime spot. The girl's blood was found on accused Irfan's clothes, which acted as an important evidence against the two.

Asif and Irfan have been booked under relevant sections of POCSO Act, kidnapping, abducting a woman to force her into illicit intercourse and attempted murder.

The trial had begun in Mandsaur on July 30. All the prosecution witnesses had been examined every day till August 8, after which final arguments were made before the court on August 14.

The witnesses in the case included the victim herself, who had been admitted at the MY hospital Indore during the trial and was taken in a private vehicle to Mandsaur for recording the statements before the judge, her family members, her classmates, police officials, forensic experts, medical experts and others.

