A Tis Hazari court in Delhi on Friday sentenced a man to death and his father to life imprisonment for the 2019 rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in Nihal Vihar.
The court deemed the crime among the ‘rarest of rare’ cases, warranting capital punishment.
The convict, Rajender alias Satish, sentenced to death under Section 376-AB of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The court ruled, “It is a rarest of rare cases and for the offence punishable under section 376-AB IPC- he is sentenced to death and he shall be hanged by neck till he is dead subject to confirmation by the High Court of Delhi.”
Special Judge (POCSO) Babita Puniya, who pronounced the sentence, emphasized the gravity of the crime, stating that leniency would be a failure of justice.
“I am of the view that if leniency is shown to the convict, the court would be failing in its duty towards the victim and society at large which demands stringent punishment who commit such heinous crimes,” special judge Babita Puniya asserted.
The judge further remarked, “Convict killed the innocent child without any compunction as if she was not worthy of living anymore. She also had the right to bloom like a flower in a safe environment, which we as a society failed to provide her.”
Life Imprisonment For The Father
The court sentenced Ramsaran, the father, to life imprisonment, noting, “I am of the view that his case does not fit in the bracket of ‘rarest of rare cases’. He was not present when his son kidnapped the deceased victim and brought her to his house.”
Additionally, the court added, “However, he does not deserve any leniency as he participated in the commission of gruesome murder of an innocent defenseless child to wipe out the evidence of rape committed by his son.”
The judge cited the story and said, “I feel like citing this story because if the father had scolded his son for the first offence, instead of finding ways to save him, then it would have had a deterrent effect on his subsequent crime. He probably wouldn’t have committed the next crime.”
“But instead of showing him the right path, he tried to hide his son’s misdeeds and ended up murdering a seven-year-old defenseless child,” the court remarked.
Conviction & Legal Representation
A court found the father and son guilty on 24 February 2025.
Representing the State was Special Public Prosecutor Dr. Sharawan Kumar Bishnoi.
Legal aid counsel RR Jha defended the convict’s son, while Anil Kumar Jha represented the father.
Anshul Pratap Singh, another legal aid counsel, advocated for the complainant, and Dr. Shivani Gambhir appeared on behalf of the DCW.
During sentencing arguments, Dr. Sharawan Kumar Bishnoi, SPP, urged the court to impose the harshest penalty, arguing that the son posed a serious danger to society.
He stressed that removing him was essential to safeguarding future generations.
While out on bail for a 2016 case involving the sexual assault of an eight-year-old girl, Rajender kidnapped another minor, subjected her to brutal assault, and ultimately murdered her with his father’s assistance.
Delhi Police registered the case in February 2019, building it on strong circumstantial evidence, including CCTV footage capturing both accused transporting the victim’s body in a plastic bag on a scooter.
The post-mortem report confirmed sexual assault and fatal injuries caused by a blunt object.
Charges & Convictions
The court held Rajender guilty under multiple charges, including:
- Sections 363 (kidnapping a minor),
- 366 (kidnapping for illicit purposes),
- 376-AB (rape of a minor under 12),
- 302 (murder), and
- Section 6 of the POCSO Act
He also received additional prison terms for kidnapping charges.
The court convicted his father under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC for his role in the crime.
The court stated, “This court is of the view that the circumstances and the evidence adduced by the prosecution form a complete chain leading to the inevitable conclusion that it was accused son and no one else who kidnapped the deceased victim to fulfill his lust and committed penetrative sexual assault upon her and that accused son and his father were responsible for the brutal murder of deceased victim.”
In the judgment of 24 February 2025, it further noted, “This court, therefore, is of the view that the prosecution has successfully established its case beyond any reasonable doubt against the accused son under sections 363/366/376-AB IPC, section 302/34 IPC and section 6 POCSO Act and against the accused father under section 302/34 IPC.”
The Prosecution stated that the deceased’s father filed a complaint on 9 February 2019, leading to the lodging of the FIR.
The next day, people discovered her body in a park, with her hands and legs bound by a plastic rope and ligature marks around her neck.
Officials rushed her to the hospital, where doctors confirmed her death.
The post-mortem report cited sexual assault and a head injury caused by a blunt object as the cause of death.
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