The court considered the perversity of the crime as an aggravating circumstance and said that there were no grounds for leniency towards the accused, “who has shown no signs of repentance.”
A 24-year-old transgender has been awarded a death sentence by the Mumbai Court on Tuesday for raping and murdering a three-month-old girl after the infant’s family could not offer customary ‘Vidai’ at the time of birth of the baby due to the pandemic in 2021. The court termed the act as ‘barbaric and inhuman.’
The special judge for cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), Aditee Kadam said that the social fabric of the society gets damaged beyond repair due to such heinous crimes. However, a co-accused was found not guilty because the prosecution was unable to establish the case against him beyond a reasonable doubt.
The accused kidnapped the infant who lived nearby and killed her after raping her in July 2021, as per the prosecution. The accused had asked for a saree, Rs 1,100 and a coconut as part of the customary ‘Vidai’ given at the time of the birth of a baby. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the family was unable to offer, which led to the heinous crime.