INDIA: 42-YEAR-OLD MAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR RAPE, MURDER OF SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN VALSAD

December 10, 2025:

A court in Vapi town of Valsad, in the State of Gujarat, on December 4, 2025 sentenced 42-year-old man to death for the brutal rape, sodomy, and murder of a six-year-old girl.
The verdict was delivered by additional sessions judge H N Vakil, who sentenced the death penalty to convict Razaak Khan for each section of the Indian Penal Code, pertaining to murder, rape, rape of a girl younger than 12 years, and section for rape under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
In addition to the death penalty, the court ordered a compensation of Rs 17 lakh to be awarded to the victim's family. On Oct 23, 2023, the girl went missing while going to her maternal grandfather's place of work from her home in Dungra Faliya within the limits of Dungra police station. She went missing at around 11am, and the family alerted the police in the evening. The child's body was discovered a day later in the bushes near a creek. The breakthrough came when CCTV footage identified Khan as the prime suspect. A forensic postmortem conducted at New Civil Hospital in Surat confirmed that the victim was raped, sodomized, and strangled.
Khan was caught on Oct 25, 2023 and a 700-page chargesheet was filed within 19 days of the crime's registration. The prosecution's case was bolstered by the testimonies of 67 witnesses, leading to Khan's conviction. The investigation was done by police inspector Mayur Patel under the supervision of deputy superintendent of police B N Dave. "The judgment was announced within one-and-a half-years of the chargesheet being filed. A total of 67 witness statements were recorded, and various scientific evidence ensured conviction," said Nayan Sukhadwala, public prosecutor.