In Brief
A 22-year-old man was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a 13-year-old girl and hiding her body. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction based on circumstantial evidence—including eyewitness testimony that he was last seen with the victim, recovery of her body at his direction, matching mud stains on his clothes, and medical evidence of rape and strangulation. Though the crime was heinous, the Court found it not so brutal as to warrant death. Considering his young age, lack of prior criminal record, and possibility of reform, the death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum of 20 years without remission.",
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