Surat District Special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Court of Justice has handed out death penalty to Ismail alias Salim Yusuf Hajat who has been convicted of raping a 2-year-old girl and disposing of her body after murdering her in February early this year.
A POCSO court had on July 31, convicted the 23-year-old youth Ismail alias Yusuf Hajat for the rape and murder of a child in Surat on February 27 early this year. The court pronounced the quantum of punishment on August 3.
Prosecution lawyer Nayan Sukhadwala had sought capital punishment and solitary confinement for the convict. Sukhadwala had also requested Shakuntalaben Solanki presiding over the special court to treat it as the “rarest of rare cases”.
The defense lawyer, on his part, had argued that the convicted rapist was the lone breadwinner of his family comprising his mother and younger sister and therefore be given a lighter sentence.
As reported by The Indian Express, “The accused not only broke the faith (of the victim’s family) but carried out a heinous crime on the minor who was helpless and could not defend herself. The phone of the accused, recovered by the police, had several obscene materials. He had also downloaded a video on how to kill a minor.”
Shocking details of heinous rape-murder
The victim’s family lived in the Kapletha village of Sachin extension area of Surat. Yusuf Salim Hajat was a neighbour of the victim’s family and often frequented their house on some pretext or the other. On February 27, Hajat had taken away the girl from her parents promising to buy her a packet of wafers (chips or potato crispies) after assuring the child’s parents that they would return soon.
However, in a shocking breach of faith and perverse behavior, Yusuf Hajat the convict took the unsuspecting innocent girl to an isolated place outside the village and raped her. He later strangulated her to death.
When Ismail alias Yusuf failed to return with the toddler, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint with the Sachin police the same night.
To the absolute shock and grief of the family of the toddler, her body was recovered the same night from the crime site.
Police arrested Yusuf the next day from the Kapletha checkpost area while he was attempting to flee.
The police also secured CCTV footage of Yusuf and the girl child which helped them crack the case as well as present to the court as evidence of the complicity of the accused in the shameful, inhuman act.
As per reports in various sections of the media, bite marks were found on the minor’s stomach and private parts.
Yusuf alias Salim Ismail Hazar was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the POCSO Act, and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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