Daijiworld Media Network- Bhopal

Bhopal, Mar 19: A Bhopal court delivered a death sentence on Tuesday to a man convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in September 2024. The court also sentenced the man's mother and sister to two years of imprisonment for obstructing the police investigation by concealing crucial information.

Special District Court Judge Kumudini Patel condemned the crime as "brutal" and "heinous," stating that the primary accused "does not deserve to live in society." The court imposed the death penalty under Sections 103, 66, and 64(A) of the relevant legal code, along with a life sentence under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Special Public Prosecutor Divya Shukla confirmed the sentences.

The tragic incident unfolded on September 24 of the previous year when the five-year-old girl was reported missing from a multi-story building in Idgah Hills. After a 15-hour search by police and the victim's family, her body was discovered in a locked apartment within the same building. The post-mortem examination revealed she had been raped and strangled.

Following investigations, Atul Bhalse, along with his sister Chanchal Bhalse and mother Basanti Bhalse, who resided in the apartment where the body was found, confessed to the crime. The accused and his family had even participated in the search for the missing girl, deliberately misleading the victim's family and authorities to avoid suspicion.