Guwahati: A court in Bilasipara, Assam, sentenced Utpal Roy to death for the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl. The girl vanished from her home in September 2023. Police searched for three days. They found her body hidden inside the Krishnakali Tea Estate in Chapar using a sniffer dog.
Authorities recovered the remains while a magistrate and a forensic team watched. Investigators built the case after the victim's family filed a complaint. Chapar Police registered case number 179/23. Roy faced charges under sections 363(A), 376, 302, and 201 of the Indian Penal Code, plus Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
The prosecution argued Roy lured the child into the garden to rape her. He killed her to hide the crime. Government advocate Tapan Bhatt led the prosecution. Officers Arpana Talukdar and Ranjit Kakati managed the investigation before Deepjyoti Ingti filed the chargesheet. The court convicted Roy under the POCSO Act. The verdict arrives nearly three years after the tragedy. As the judge delivered the sentence, official records show the court found sufficient evidence to justify the ultimate punishment for a crime described in legal filings as a case involving the "rape and murder of a minor."
Photo Courtesy: India Today Group

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