32-year-old sentenced to death for brutally violating 7-year-old girl

Rajkot: A special POCSO court in Rajkot on Saturday sentenced to death a 32-year-old Madhya Pradesh man, convicted on charges of rape and sexual assault on a seven-year-old girl near a village of the district's Jasdan taluka.The order was delivered within 41 days of the accused being arrested.Public prosecutor S K Vora said, "The court considered this as the rarest of rare cases and awarded the convict Ramsingh Dudva the death sentence. The court also ordered payment of Rs 7 lakh compensation to the survivor's family."The police investigated the case in 11 days, and the prosecution completed the arguments within nine days. Vora told TOI that Dudva was convicted under Pocso section section 5(i) (aggravated penetrative sexual assault when the victim is a child below 12 years of age), section 5(m) (aggravated penetrative sexual assault when the offence is committed repeatedly on the same child) and section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault, which includes rigorous imprisonment of not less than 20 years, extendable to life or death)"The accused violated the survivor using an iron rod. Suffering unbearable pain, she pulled the accused's hair with force. We found the hair at the spot of the crime," said Vora. "The accused was a pervert, and we strongly urged that he should not be released. Even life imprisonment was not sufficient," he said.On Dec 4, the survivor was playing with her siblings and other children in an open field when Dudva came on a motorcycle and forcibly took her to a secluded place near a tree. There, he committed the depraved act of violence, using a six-inch iron rod to inflict life-threatening internal injuries.The girl's aunt, alerted by her piercing screams, rushed to the spot, prompting the accused to flee. The child was found in a critical condition, bleeding profusely. She was taken to several medical facilities before being shifted to the government-run Janana Hospital in Rajkot, where specialists and surgeons worked tirelessly to save the unconscious girl's life.Addressing media persons, superintendent of police, Rajkot Rural, Vijaysinh Gurjar said, "We gathered all the evidence expeditiously and submitted the chargesheet within 19 days in court. The prosecution and the survivor's family requested the court to hear this case expediently, considering the seriousness of the case."Vora said statements of the survivor and other children who were with her at the time were recorded during the trial. The survivor, who had suffered the trauma a month earlier, gave a firm and consistent statement before the court. The prosecution added that all government departments, including the medical team, forensic experts and the executive magistrate, worked in close coordination during the investigation and trial.While the perpetrator was initially unknown, Rajkot detained Dudva on the basis of suspicion on Dec 8. During his remand, he led officers to the blood-stained iron rod hidden under a tree.Assistant public prosecutor Prashant Patel also assisted Vora in this case.