Man sentenced to death for rape, murder of 11-yr-old girl
Times of India | 12 June 2025
Jalpaiguri: A special Pocso court in Jalpaiguri sentenced 31-year-old Haripada Roy to death for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl, categorising it as a "rarest of rare" case. The incident occurred on Sept 29, 2023 in Tuklimari, Gadheyarkuti GP, Dhupguri.The victim was abducted from outside her house when her father and uncle were away attending a panchayat board formation meeting. The girl's mother reported her missing around 2 pm, leading to an extensive search before a formal complaint was filed at Dhupguri police station.Roy, who was the victim's neighbour and had established a friendly relationship with her as she frequently visited his house to watch television, took the minor to his residence where he raped and strangled her to death. In an attempt to conceal his crime, he transported the body in a polythene bag on his bicycle approximately 20km away and dumped it on the banks of the Dudwa river.The victim's body was discovered on Oct 1 near Kaji Para. A postmortem examination confirmed rape and strangulation as the cause of death. Roy was arrested the following day after locals testified to seeing the girl enter his house and evidence was recovered linking him to the crime. While in police custody he confessed to the crime.Jalpaiguri special Pocso judge Rintu Sur found Roy guilty under sections 376AB, 302, and 201 of IPC, along with section 6 of the Pocso Act. In addition to the death sentence, Roy was given seven years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 5,000 for destroying evidence. The court also directed the district legal services authority to provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim's family.Assistant public prosecutor Debasis Dutta emphasised the particularly heinous nature of the crime, noting that the victim was the same age as the perpetrator's daughter. "The court found the crime a rarest of rare where the man not only raped and killed the girl but also tried to erase the evidence," Dutta said.(With agency inputs)