A court in Delhi on Saturday convicted a man for kidnapping, raping and killing a two-year-old girl in 2014, saying the prosecution had established the charges against him.
The man, Ravinder, an alleged "psychopath" and "serial killer", is undergoing life imprisonment in a 2015 case of brutal rape and murder of a six-year-old girl. He was sentenced in this case in May 2023.
A court, in 2023, had observed that the cold-blooded rape and murder was so gruesome and inhumane that the convict did not deserve any leniency.
Additional Sessions Judge Amit Sahrawat was hearing the case against accused Ravinder, against whom the Samaypur Badli police station had registered a case under IPC Section 302 (murder) and 363 (kidnapping).
Special public prosecutors Vineet Dahiya and Aditya Kumar submitted that the accused was "a serial killer" against whom more than 25 FIRs were registered for "brutally kidnapping, raping and murdering minor children.
Kumar also said that Ravinder was "a psychopath serial killer and all his victims were minor children." In an order dated August 23, the court, however, said the previous involvement of the accused in similar offences was not substantial evidence, but it could be considered up to some extent.
It said, "It is concluded that prosecution has duly proved that the deceased minor child went missing from her house on April 13, 2014, around 6:30 pm, and thereafter, at about 7:30-8:00 PM on the same day, the deceased was last seen in the company of the accused." The court said it was also established that the girl's dead body was recovered from a place near the spot where Ravinder was last seen with the minor.
"The only substantial evidence against the accused is the last seen theory," the court said, adding, it was impossible for the girl to leave Ravinder's company or custody on her own volition.
"In these circumstances, if the death of the child has taken place, then it is very strong evidence against the accused that the offence took place during his custody or company, and to counter this evidence, the burden lies upon the accused. However, there is no evidence from the accused in his counter (to explain the minor's death)," the court said.
It said the last seen theory was "a conclusive kind of evidence" against Ravinder, and it was "solely sufficient" to prove his guilt beyond any reasonable doubt.
The court said that facts established by the prosecution formed a complete chain of duly proved circumstantial evidence against the accused.
It said, "From this chain of facts, the only hypothesis which could be drawn is the guilt of the accused that he kidnapped and caused the death of the minor child, and except this, no other hypothesis is drawable." Convicting Ravinder under IPC Section 363, the court said there was no doubt that the minor was kidnapped from the custody of her parents by the accused.
Regarding the offence of murder, the court noted the postmortem report, according to which death was caused by coma and asphyxia, besides the body had a head injury and swelling or contusion of both lips.
It said the head injury was probably due to a blunt force impact and swelling of the lips because of smothering.
"The deceased was a child of just two and a half years, and the body of such a small child is so soft and delicate that even a small injury can cause a bigger effect. If the mouth of a child is smothered with so much force by an adult person that the teeth leave marks on the lips, then it shows that the accused intended to cause the death of said child." "Further, it is not the only injury caused to the deceased; rather, her head was also attacked with blunt force," the court said, convicting him of murder.
The arguments on sentencing will commence on August 28.
Earlier in May 2023, a court had sentenced Ravinder to rigorous imprisonment for life for kidnapping, raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in 2015.
The court remarked that the convict committed a "cold-blooded rape and murder". The act was so gruesome and inhumane that the convict did not deserve any leniency or sympathy from the court, it said.
The court also said the crime was no less than an "act of a predator" and it had shaken the conscience of society.
"The child cannot be expected to provoke the convict to sexually assault her and kill her. The offence committed by the convict was a cold-blooded rape and murder," the court had said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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