Yesterday, a special fast-track court sentenced two youngsters to death after they were held guilty of gang-raping and brutally murdering a nine-year-old with hearing and speech impairment in 2020.

“They shall be hanged by the neck till they are dead, subject to the confirmation of the sentence by the Punjab and Haryana high court,” reads the June 7 sentencing order of the special fast track court headed by additional sessions judge (ASJ) Prashant Rana, holding the trial of offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Issuing a warning to potential offenders who plan to perpetrate such offences, the court said that in case they commit such offences with children, they would be signing their death warrants and the courts of law would simply execute those warrants.

The two convicted youths, Ajay, 21, and Parsottam, 27, whose village falls under the jurisdiction of Hodal police station in Palwal were arrested in 2020 after the police booked them under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The court sentenced the two convicts to multiple death sentences for an offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and for the commission of an offence punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

Further, the Court ordered that an amount of ₹30 lakh be granted to the dependents of the victim as final compensation under the Victim Compensation Scheme of 2020.

The Court held that the manner of commission of the crime was extremely brutal and barbaric.

“The convicts repeatedly raped the victim after tying her hands. She got unconscious after being raped thrice. Subsequently, both the convicts burnt her eyes with beedis and later strangulated her to death. The victim died on the spot and her body lay in the field for a day and the entire night. Multiple bite marks were found on the victim’s cheeks. There were multiple contusions on her face and left arm. The thyroid cartilage in the neck was fractured,” the court said in the sentencing order.

“There was no motive for them to commit the barbaric act except for their carnal and mental perversions. They never showed any guilt or remorse on account of their barbaric deeds right from the inception of the investigation till the conclusion of the trial.