JABALPUR: Madhya Pradesh high court on Wednesday upheld death penalty in a child rape case, observing that the state is “not a soft state where predators committing such serious crimes may get reprieve in the guise of humanity”.

The convict, Vinod alias Rahul Chouhtha from MP’s Shahdol, had raped and murdered a four-year-old girl. “Humanity is more in danger at the hands of such persons. We find that there is no mitigating circumstance in favour of the appellant,” a division bench comprising Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla ruled, adding that extreme punishment will convey a message to predators.

Vinod, 22, was sentenced to death by district and sessions judge R K Singh on February 28 this year. He had lured the child with biscuits and raped and killed her on May 13, 2017. Her body was found behind some bushes. He challenged the capital punishment in HC.

