In an exemplary quick delivery of justice, Sambalpur sessions judge on Monday awarded death penalty to a 30-year-old man on the charges of raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl.
The verdict came in just 28 days after the incident came to the light.
According the case diary, the convict Pradeep Dalai on September 2 took the girl, a resident of Talanpara in Sambalpur town, for a bicycle ride in the city. On the way, he took her took a deserted place near Kejelpara park in the city and raped her. When the victim Urmila screamed in pain, he killed her by strangulation.
The body of the girl, a student of Class 2, was recovered two days later on September 4 from Kejelpara park area.
When members of the girl’s family went to Dalai to inquire about her at his house in Ram Mandir area he pleaded ignorance. Suspecting his disturbed behaviour, Urmila’s family members dragged him to the police station where he confessed to the crime. He was arrested and remanded to judicial custody, Sambalpur.
“It was challenging case for us. We completed the investigation in just four days and submitted the chargesheet. On October 1, the court had found Pradeep guilty and reserved the verdict,” Dillip Kumar Deo, additional superintendent of police, said.
Public prosecutor Artatrana Mishra, while pronouncing the verdict, said prompt investigation and quick submission of chargesheet by the police resulted in an early verdict. Santosini, the mother of the girl, while expressing her happiness over the incident said, “I thank the judge for giving me justice. I will get solace only when Pradeep will be hanged and I will see his body.”
In yet another similar incident in the same district, a three-year-old girl was found raped and murdered at Thelkolei.
After failing to find her, the girl’s father had lodged a missing report with the police the same day.
According to police, the girl’s parents used to leave her to the care of her four-year-old brother when they went out to work as cow hawkers. The girl’s brother told his parents that she had gone out with a youth identified as Thuru Munda, 26, who used to visit their house.