Allahabad HC commutes death sentence to life term in 2020 infant rape, murder case

Lucknow, Nov 19 (PTI) The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of raping and killing a five-month-old girl to life imprisonment.

The bench, however, clarified that the accused would spend his entire life in prison and would not be granted any remission.

A bench of Justice Rajneesh Kumar and Justice Rajiv Singh passed the verdict after hearing the reference sent by the sessions court for confirmation of the death sentence, and also the appeal of the convict Premchand alias Pappu Dixit.

In its judgment, the court said that the verdict of the trial court to convict the accused was absolutely correct.

However, while ordering the commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment, the court said that there was no previous criminal history against the accused, and he also had a 3-4-year-old child.

It also noted that there was no evidence to suggest that the accused committed the said crime as part of a pre-planned scheme.

The incident had occurred on February 16, 2020, at the Madiyaon police station. The girl's parents had gone to a relative's wedding at SR Marriage Lawn, where her cousin, Premchand alias Pappu Dixit, was also present.

He took the girl from her mother's lap to feed her and then left. When he didn't return after a long time, the family began searching for her.

After a long search, the girl was found in the bushes at some distance from the marriage lawn. She was immediately taken to KGMU, but doctors declared her dead.

The shirt button of the accused and his three hairs were found at the scene. The sessions court had sentenced the accused to death on September 30, 2021. PTI COR ABN HIG