Ahmedabad: A court in Bharuch district of Gujarat has handed over the death sentence to a 24-year-old man, who has been convicted under charges of murder, unnatural sex and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence (POCSO) Act.
Shambhu Padhiyar lured the victim, a four-year-old boy with ice-cream at Piludra village of Jambusar taluka in Bharuch district in April 2016 and took him to a secluded spot. Padhiyar sexually assaulted the boy several times before strangulating him to death. He fled the village after the crime and was arrested by the police a week later following a massive manhunt launched by the police.
The boy was last seen by his friends at around noon on April 13, 2016 and when he did not return home by evening, the family began to look for him. His dead body was recovered from a secluded spot on the outskirts of the village the same evening.
In a landmark order, judge HA Dave convicted Padhiyar for murder, sodomy, and under sections of the POCSO Act. The judge, in his order on Thursday afternoon, observed that the crime was extremely heinous and deserved the strictest punishment. The judge also observed that medical and other evidence presented by the prosecution adequately established the crime.
Padhiyar was an unemployed youth of the same village and knew the victim well. The unsuspecting child, who knew the culprit, was easily lured by Padhiyar when he was offered ice cream.
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