INDIA: DEATH PENALTY AWARDED TO YOUTH IN RAPE AND MURDER OF 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL IN PUDUCHERRY

May 13, 2026:

Fast Track Special Court Judge M. D. Sumati on May 8, 2026 awarded death penalty by hanging to Kaka alias Karnas in the sexual assault and murder of a nine-year-old girl in March 2024.
The Judge while awarding death penalty directed a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family.
Last month, the Judge had found the lone surviving accused, Karnas, guilty of all charges, including gang-rape, murder and kidnapping under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and other relevant laws. 
The girl was found missing on March 2 that year. Three days later, her body was recovered from a neighbourhood drain. The police received information that the girl was last seen with Karnas, who was then 20 years old and living next to the child’s house. 
The arrest and subsequent interrogation of Karnas led to the arrest of second accused in the case, Vivekandhan, 56, who was also known to the child.
Vivekanandhan died by suicide in the toilet of the Central Prison at Kalapet where he was lodged. The charges against Vivekanandhan thereafter stood abated.
The sections invoked against Karnas, included 376 AB (punishment for rape of a woman aged below 12); 302 (punishment for murder); 367 (punishment for kidnapping a person with the intent to hurt); 368 (punishment for wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement, kidnapped or abducted person); 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement); 201 (punishment for causing disappearance of evidence); and 34 (punishment for crime done by two or more persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The other charges made against the accused pertained to Section 5 (j) (iv) (g) (m)/6 of the POCSO Act and Section 3 (2) (v), 3 (1) (w) (i) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.