RANCHI: A special CBI court on Saturday pronounced death sentence to a 24-year-man who raped and murdered a 19-year old B-Tech student in her home on December 2016. Judge AK Mishra handed the sentence to Rahul Raj alias Ankit Raj, a resident of Bihar’s Nalanda district, after convicting him of rape and murder. An autopsy report had confirmed that the victim was raped and strangled to death. The convict had set the body on fire after the heinous crime. The case had triggered massive protests, with agitators identifying the victim as ‘Nirbhaya’ of Ranchi.
The girl’s father expressed satisfaction saying that the family had full confidence over the judiciary. “Though, it took three years for the court to deliver justice, but I am fully satisfied with Court’s verdict,” he said.
“We took over the case from police on March 28, 2018 and started investigation. DNA samples collected from the accused and the victim proved to be major evidence in the case,” said Special Public Prosecutor Rakesh Sinha.
The charge sheet was filed on September 19, while the charges were framed on October 25, he added. Sinha said, the CBI took about 15 months to investigate the case in which the central probe agency produced 30 witnesses. Both defence and prosecution concluded their arguments in six days.