The Uttar Pradesh intensified crackdown on crimes against children, a Varanasi court has sentenced Mohammad Irshad to death for the rape, assault, and murder of an eight-year-old girl. The punishment was delivered under “Operation Conviction”, a focused initiative to ensure swift justice in heinous crimes.
Special POCSO Judge (Court-III), Vinod Kumar, awarded the death penalty along with a fine of Rs 60,000, ordering that the full amount be handed over to the victim’s father as compensation. The court described Irshad’s actions as “barbaric” and categorically deemed the case to fall under the “rarest of rare” category.
"ऑपरेशन कन्विक्शन" के तहत अभियुक्त इरशाद को दुष्कर्म, हत्या एवं पाक्सो एक्ट से सम्बन्धित प्रकरण में मा0 न्यायालय विशेष न्यायाधीश पाक्सो-III वाराणसी द्वारा मृत्युदण्ड एवं 60,000/- रुपये के अर्थदण्ड से दण्डित किया गया । #OperationConviction #ProsecutionSuccess #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/mIuMC86LWe
— DCP Kashi (@VnsDcp) November 18, 2025
This conviction is especially notable for its speed the case was investigated, tried, and concluded within just 11 months, reflecting an unusually efficient judicial process in such a complex and sensitive matter.
The horrific incident took place on December 24 2024. The young girl had stepped out of her home in a densely populated locality to buy household items and failed to return. As panic spread within the family and neighbourhood, frantic searches were launched through the night.
The following morning, on December 25, residents made a grim discovery: the child’s body was found stuffed inside a sack on the premises of a government school. The condition of the body revealed extreme brutality her head had been mutilated, and injuries indicated the use of a heavy stone in an apparent attempt to disguise her identity.
According to investigators, Irshad had been waiting for the child to return from the shop. He abducted her, took her to a secluded area, assaulted her, and eventually murdered her out of fear of being identified. He then transported her body in a sack to the nearby government school, where he crushed her skull and abandoned her remains.
The victim’s father lodged an FIR at Ramnagar Police Station on December 25 2024, reporting his daughter missing. The case was registered under Sections 103(1), 238, 659(2), 137(2) of the IPC and Sections 5(D)/6 of the POCSO Act, which relate to aggravated offences against minors.
Critical evidence came from CCTV footage that captured Irshad entering his home with the girl and leaving later carrying a sack the same sack in which the child’s body was later found. A police raid at his residence prompted Irshad to flee.
On December 26, just a day after the FIR, Irshad was traced and intercepted by police. During the attempted arrest, he opened fire at officers, prompting retaliatory action in which he was shot in the leg and subsequently detained. A postmortem report confirmed assault and blunt-force injuries, strengthening the prosecution’s case.
The prosecution presented seven key witnesses, including the victim’s father, police personnel, and the medical examiner. Their testimonies, supported by forensic findings and CCTV evidence, formed a watertight case.
The court heavily condemned the cruelty of the assault and the calculated efforts to destroy evidence, noting that Irshad’s actions displayed a “dangerous mindset unfit for civil society.” Prosecutors urged the court to impose the maximum punishment, citing the heinous nature of the crime. The judge agreed, stating that the sheer brutality inflicted on a helpless child warranted nothing short of the death penalty.
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