MP: Criminal gets death sentence thrice after 1 year in case of rape and murder of 5-year-old girl

Bhopal. A special court in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal on Tuesday sentenced a 30-year-old man to death thrice, convicting him under three charges for raping and murdering a minor girl last year. Along with this, his mother and sister have also been sentenced to two years in jail each. This incident happened in September last year.

Special Judge Kumudini Patel, who is hearing cases related to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO Act), convicted criminal Atul Nihale in connection with this case. He had raped and murdered a five-year-old girl from Shahjahanabad area of ​​​​Bhopal. Her mother and sister were found guilty of hiding the crime.

Prosecution Public Relations Officer Manoj Tripathi said that this is the first time that a person has been sentenced to triple death in the state. On September 24, 2024, the minor girl went missing after leaving her uncle’s flat in Shahjahanabad area. Before leaving, she had told her grandmother that she would return in 15 minutes.

When the victim did not return home, her grandmother started looking for her. When she was not found, her family members informed the police. The police registered a case in this matter and started investigation. The police used technical surveillance and involved the dog squad. During the search, the police noticed a foul smell coming from the accused’s flat.

When the police opened the door, her mother Basanti Bai and sister Chanchal told that the smell was due to dead rats. They said that the floor has just been cleaned with phenyl. When the police tried to forcibly enter and search, both the women started shouting. Both of them stopped the police from searching.

However, the women police took them aside and continued the search. Police found that the smell was coming from a white plastic water tank. The police team found the victim’s body inside it. After investigation, doctors confirmed that the victim girl was brutally raped. Her private part was badly injured.

After questioning the accused Atul Nihale, his mother and sister, the police recovered the victim’s clothes and the knife used in the crime. The accused confessed to the crime and told the police that his mother and sister had helped in hiding the crime. The DNA test also confirmed the rape by Atul Nihale. Along with this, many other evidences were against him.

Judge Kumudini Patel said that the demonic nature of the accused, the way of committing the crime, under which he widened the girl’s private part with a knife and when she resisted, he attacked the girl and killed her and tried to dispose of the body in a planned manner. This shows that there is no scope for reform in him.

The judge said that the accused is extremely cruel, ruthless, gruesome, sadistic and bestial by nature. If there is any case that deserves the death penalty, it is this case. He convicted Atul Nihale under sections 64 (A), 66 and 103 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the POCSO Act.