INDIA: 2 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER OF 8-YR-OLD GIRL

June 3, 2025:

A special court in Madhubani (Bihar) on May 31, 2025 sentenced two men, Sushil Rai and Om Prakash Jha, to death for the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old dalit girl.
Syed Mohammad Fazlul Bari, special judge for SC/ST cases and additional district and sessions judge, delivered the verdict after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and the defence. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1.55 lakh on each convict under various legal provisions.
The brutal crime occurred on June 22, 2023 in a village under Jaynagar police station in Madhubani district.
Special public prosecutor Sapan Kumar Singh described the case as the "rarest of the rare" and urged the court to impose the death penalty. Defence counsel Amit Kumar argued in favour of the accused, but the court upheld the prosecution's plea for capital punishment.
According to the prosecution, the child was alone at home while her family members were at work when the accused lured her to Jaynagar market under the pretext of buying food. They then took her to a room in Koshi Colony, where they sexually assaulted her. When she screamed, they strangled her with a gamchha (towel) and inflicted multiple injuries on her head and body.
Police arrested the accused the following day. During interrogation, the duo led officers to the victim's body, which had been concealed under asbestos sheets in an abandoned building.