Transgender sentenced to death for rape & murder of 3 month old girl; POCSO Court Calls It ‘Rarest Of Rare Case’

Mumbai: A special POCSO court on February 28 sentenced a 24-year-old transgender to death for kidnapping and raping a three-month-old girl and then burying her body to hide the evidence, calling it the rarest of rare cases. The culprit committed the heinous act because the victim’s family refused to pay him ‘bakshish’ or a tip after the child was born in July 2021. Transgender’s aide was acquitted due to a need for evidence.

Making harsh observations in the verdict, special judge Aditee Uday Kadam stated that the defenceless girl was abused like an animal for no fault of her own. “The crime had been of extreme depravity, which shocks the conscience, particularly looking to the target, only three-month-old child, and looking to the manner of committing rape and murder where the helpless victim was literally smashed/buried in a marshy area, resulting in her death.” The judge classified the case as the rarest of rare, adding, “The barbaric and inhumane manner in which the act was committed made it the rarest of rare cases. It is a crime that would send shivers down the spines of every parent with a girl child. The accused’s perversity is clear.”

The victim was kidnapped on the night of July 8, 2021. The family said that the accused, who lived nearby, had come to their house in the evening and demanded ‘bakshish’. After denial, they left, cursing the aggrieved. When the family slept, the convict along with a friend kidnapped the girl. Later, the victim’s family contacted the Cuffe Parade police. The pair was apprehended the following day after a few fishermen reported to the authorities that they had seen the convict and his assistant carrying something, and one of the eyewitnesses reportedly spotted the girl’s legs. Both of them even showed the cops where they buried the girl.

The experts concluded that the cause of death was drowning along with abnormal genital injuries. The victim’s vaginal injuries may have resulted from penetration by one or more people. The medicos emphasised that there is nothing to imply that the accused is incapable of engaging in sexual intercourse.

“The accused committed murder even though her family had no prior animosity with them. There was absolutely no provocation on their part to cause the accused to take the life of an infant and commit such a heinous crime with her,” the court stated.