Special Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court judge Sudipto Bhattacharya, while delivering the capital punishment to Ashok Shaw, stated that the case qualified as one of the rarest of rare since the young victim was defenseless against the assailant.
KOLKATA: A Kolkata court on Thursday (26th Sept) sentenced a man to death for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl in 2023, holding that it was a case of the rarest of rare nature.
Special Pocso (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) court judge Sudipto Bhattacharya, while delivering the capital punishment to Ashok Shaw, stated that the case qualified as one of the rarest of rare since the young victim was defenseless against the assailant.
“Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent,”
the judge remarked as he delivered the sentence.
The victim’s family resided on the second floor of a multi-storey building. Around 8 a.m. on March 26 last year, the girl’s mother sent her to buy a packet of milk from the local market and dispose of a garbage bag.
That was the last time the parents saw their daughter. After more than two-and-a-half hours with no sign of her return, the family reported her missing at the Tiljala police station.
A search team was dispatched, and officers reviewed CCTV footage from cameras in the market and around the building where the family lived.
The footage showed that the child had returned to the building after disposing of the garbage.
A thorough search of the entire building was immediately conducted, including the convict’s flat, where the bruised body of the seven-year-old girl was discovered in a gunny bag hidden behind the kitchen’s gas cylinder.
“The child’s hands were tied behind and her mouth gagged when the sexual assault was carried out. There were more than 26 wounds on the body. The head was struck with a hammer. Attempt was made to gouge the eyes,” said public prosecutor Shibnath Adhikari.
Following the girl’s disappearance, violent protests erupted in the Tiljala and Park Circus areas, with demonstrators demanding improved policing. Cars were set on fire, a police station was vandalized, traffic was disrupted, and railway services were impacted.
An investigation by the Kolkata Police’s homicide section uncovered that Shaw had lured the child into his flat with chocolates before assaulting and killing her.
The last seen theory relieves the court from the burden of proving guilt yet it is weak evidence and it needs to be corroborated with other factors like if there was motive with the person who was last seen with the deceased or he could even administer the kind of injury that caused death.
Section 106 of the Evidence Act, 1872 provides that the burden of proof for any fact that is especially within the knowledge of a person lies upon such person. Thus, if a person is last seen with the deceased, he must offer an explanation as to how and when he parted company with the deceased.
After the charge sheet was filed against the accused on June 16, 2023, the case proceeded to trial in the special POCSO court, where more than 45 witnesses were called to testify.
On Wednesday, the judge found Shaw guilty of rape, murder, and violations of the POCSO Act.
