For raping 7-month-old baby, teen gets death under new law

SNS  | Jaipur | July 21, 2018: In a much awaited judgment, a Rajasthan court on Saturday awarded death sentence to a 19-year-old youth for raping a seven-month-old baby earlier this year.

This is the first capital punishment order by a Rajasthan court after the state legislative assembly in March this year passed a bill approving death penalty to those convicted of raping or gang-raping a girl below 12 years of age.

A seven-month-old baby girl was raped in Laxmangarh area in Alwar on May 9. According to reports, the baby was taken away by the accused from a relative and later found crying in a football field. Medical examination confirmed that the child was raped.

The local police filed a challan against the accused under sections of the POCSO Act and the IPC on June 6.

Pintu (19) was held guilty on Wednesday by a special court hearing cases relating to the SC/ST and the POCSO Acts.

Rajasthan became the second state in the country after Madhya Pradesh approving death sentence for those convicted of such rapes.