Vijayawada POCSO Court Awards Death Sentence To Man For Raping, Murdering Minor

VIJAYAWADA: A special POCSO court on Tuesday awarded the death sentence to a man who raped and murdered a seven-year-old girl in Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

A special court in Vijayawada court dealing with the cases related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) awarded capital punishment to convict Pentaiah, who had raped and killed her in 2019.

The child's father expressed happiness over the verdict. The court had delivered the verdict after taking the accounts of 35 witnesses in the case. Even Pentaiah's wife reportedly gave the statement against her husband in the court.

Pentaiah raped the girl in Gollapudi village of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh in 2019. Police registered a case against Pentaiah under multiple sections 302, 201 ,376 of POCSO act.

The victim's lawyer said that the verdict was delayed for three months due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

In a move to provide security to women against the heinous crimes, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had enacted the AP Disha Act in 2019.

Under the Disha Act proposed by the AP state government, the accused will get capital punishment if there are proper evidences to prove within 60 days of the crime. The Andhra Pradesh government had also set up 18 Disha police stations in the state for speedy investigation of sexual offences against women.