Jamnagar, Oct 9 A special POCSO court in Gujarat's Jamnagar district on Friday sentenced a man to death under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for the brutal murder and torture of his seven -year-old niece in 2025, considering it a 'rarest of rare' case, a prosecution official said.
The court simultaneously sentenced the 39-year-old accused, who was also charged with sexual assault of the minor girl, to life imprisonment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), according to the official.
Special POCSO Court Judge V P Agrawal delivered the verdict.
Vadi Bharti, Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) at the special court, said the incident took place on January 12, 2025, and a case was subsequently registered under the BNS and POCSO Act at the Sikka police station in Jamnagar.
"The accused was the maternal uncle of the victim, a seven-year-old girl. When the victim pleaded with him and told him she wanted to go to her father's house, the accused burned her cheeks with a hot iron rod and also inflicted burns on her private parts with a matchstick," Bharti said.
The torture and assault led to the girl's death. The post-mortem report recorded 23 injuries on her body, the APP said, adding he also sexually assaulted the minor.
"When the case came before the special POCSO court, the prosecution presented 23 witnesses and around 95 documentary pieces of evidence," Bharti stated.
"In what was considered a 'rarest of rare' case involving a POCSO offence and murder in Jamnagar district, Judge Agrawal handed the death penalty to the accused for murder under BNS section 103(1) and sentenced him to life imprisonment under the POCSO Act," she added.
