BHUBANESWAR/ANGUL: The Additional District Judge-cum-Special POCSO Court in Angul on Friday awarded death penalty to a 40-year-old man for the brutal rape and murder of a four-year-old girl a year back.
The court found Babula Jena of Dehury Sahi in Jereng village under Jarapada police limits, guilty beyond all reasonable doubt for offences under sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 103 (1) (murder), 65(2) (rape of girl below 12 years) and 238(a) (disappearance of evidence) of BNS and section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of POCSO Act. Though Jena had not shown any remorse before the investigators, he broke down on the day after the court announced its verdict.
As per the case records, the victim went missing while playing in front of her house in Pidhakhaman village within Industrial police station limits on March 13 last year. The girl’s father lodged a police complaint in this regard on March 14 and her body was recovered a day after under a mahua tree near her house. Postmortem confirmed death due to strangulation, with findings pointing towards forcible penetrative sexual assault.
Angul police launched an investigation under the supervision of SP Rahul Jain and cracked the case within four days of the incident. Jena was apprehended on March 17.
Investigation revealed the accused, a daily wager, was known to the victim’s family and stayed in close vicinity of their house. He often showed her videos on his phone. On the fateful day, Jena lured the minor girl on the pretext of showing her videos and took her to his house, where he raped and then killed her when she tried to resist his advances.
Later when the villagers launched a search for the missing girl, he even accompanied them to avoid suspicion. However, when the police intensified the investigation, he disposed the body late on March 14 night and fled.
Police took the help of the dog squad and traced Jena’s house which was locked from outside. They broke open the door and found blood stains inside the house, leading to strong suspicion about his involvement in the crime.
“The investigation involved meticulous examination of the place from where the victim went missing, house of Jena and the spot where her body was disposed of, scientific and forensic evidence collection, witness examination, DNA sampling, confessional statement of the accused and recovery of incriminating articles,” said Jain.
Special public prosecutor Dilip Kumar Das, who led the case, said a total 32 witnesses were examined by the court. Though there was no eye witness to the crime, enough circumstantial evidences were provided against the accused that led to the conviction.