In Brief
An 8-year-old girl was taken from her home on the pretext of buying chocolates and found dead the next day. The accused, a trusted family friend whom the child called "uncle," was convicted of murder and rape, with the death penalty imposed. The Supreme Court upheld the murder conviction based on strong circumstantial evidence (last-seen together, trusted access, no credible explanation). However, it acquitted the accused of rape charges, finding post-mortem evidence showed no signs of sexual assault—no genital injuries, normal organs, and no forensic confirmation. Consequently, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, as the 'rarest of rare' test for capital punishment requires extraordinary brutality or depravity, which was absent here. The accused, young and with no criminal record, retained prospects for rehabilitation.
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