Justice Subrata Chattopadhyay, while delivering the death penalty, said the case falls under the “rarest of rare” category.
KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court has accepted an appeal against the death penalty given by a POCSO court to a man convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. This appeal was filed by the convict, Mostakin Sardar, and will now be reviewed by a division bench of the High Court.
A division bench led by Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md Shabbar Rashidi has directed the state to issue notices to all concerned parties. The court has also ordered that the records of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court trial be presented before it.
Justice Subrata Chattopadhyay, while delivering the death penalty, said the case falls under the “rarest of rare” category.
On Monday, the bench instructed that paper books, which are documents containing key court records and pleadings exchanged between the parties, be prepared within four weeks after receiving the trial court’s records. The court has scheduled the appeal for hearing after the paper books are ready.
Background of the Case
The POCSO court in Baruipur had sentenced the 19-year-old convict, Mostakin Sardar, to death on December 6 of the previous year. The verdict was delivered by Additional District and Sessions Judge Subrata Chattopadhyay, who referred to the case as belonging to the “rarest of rare” category.
The judge convicted Sardar under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including:
- Section 65 (rape)
- Section 66 (punishment for causing death or resulting in a persistent vegetative state of the victim)
- Section 103 (murder)
Sardar was also convicted under provisions of the POCSO Act.
The tragic incident occurred in Joynagar’s Kultali area. The victim, a 10-year-old girl and Class 4 student, went missing on October 5 while returning home from her tuition class. Later, her body was found in a pond.
The police investigated the case and filed a charge sheet by October 30. The trial began on November 5 and was completed within just 21 days.
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