Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS): A man was sentenced to death by a POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court in Kolkata on Tuesday for raping a seven-month-old girl in November last year.

The accused, Rajiv Ghosh, 34, was convicted by the POCSO court on Monday. He was convicted under Section 137 (2) (punishment for kidnapping), Section 65 (2) (punishment for rape of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the POCSO Act, 2012.

During the hearing, the judge of the special court Oindrila Mukhopadhyay observed that although this particular case did not result in the death of the victim, it should be considered as the rarest of the rare crimes considering the manner in which a seven-month-old girl was subjected to rape.

Besides sentencing the accused to the death penalty, the special court also directed the West Bengal government to pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the victim.

The conviction and sentencing came within three months of the crime that took place on November 30, 2024. The police started the investigation and filed the charge sheet in the matter within 26 days from the date of the crime.

The victim went missing from a roadside shanty located in the Burtolla area in north Kolkata. The victim’s parents immediately informed the police and soon the victim girl was traced from a footpath nearby.

A medical examination confirmed the rape. The police, based on the CCTV footage, identified Ghosh and he was arrested from Gopiballavpur in Jhargram district on December 4 last year. Investigation proved that he silently kidnapped the sleeping victim from the shanty that night and subsequently raped her.

Giving his reactions on the sentence by the special court, the deputy commissioner of the north division of Kolkata Police Dipak Sarkar, who had led the investigation, said he is welcoming the verdict since justice has been achieved both for the victim as well as her family members.