A Rajasthan court on Monday sentenced two brothers to death for the gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl in Bhilwara district last year. The victim's remains were found in a brick kiln, hours after she went missing while grazing cattle in her village.
Special Public Prosecutor Mahaveer Singh Kishnawat told news agency PTI that accused Kalu Lal and his brother Kanha were convicted by a Pocso court for the crime that took place in August 2023. They were subsequently handed the death penalty.
The court also acquitted seven other accused in the case. Kishnawat said the acquittal will be challenged in the high court.
The court relied on forensic evidence which showed that the girl was alive before she was thrown in the furnace.
The 14-year-old girl went missing when she had gone to graze goats in the fields on August 2. The accused allegedly gangraped her and burnt her body the same night.
Her family members launched a search and stumbled upon the girl's bracelet and slippers, which were found outside an open furnace emitting fire.
After a search operation, half-burnt body parts, suspected to be of the deceased, were recovered from a pond in the village on August 4, the police said. Some of the minor’s body parts were allegedly burnt in the furnace while other parts were disposed of in a nearby pond to destroy all evidence, they added.
Calling it a “rarest of the rare case”, Bhilwara SP Adarsh Sidhu had said all efforts would be made to ensure that the accused get the death penalty.
“Ten accused were involved in the crime, including six males and four women,” he added.
