On Friday, a Mangaluru Municipal Court sentenced three defendants—Jayasingo, 21, Mukesh Singh, 20, and Manish Tirki, 33—to death for the savage rape and killing of a six-year-old Jharkhand girl in 2021.
Following the second additional district and session court’s ruling, special public prosecutor K Badarinath Nayari informed reporters: “The Raj Tiles factory in Tiruvailu was shuttered on Sunday, November 21, 2021, but employees were permitted to remain on the property. While the child was playing outside, the accused enticed her to a remote part of the factory with food items, where they carried out the horrible act”. Muneem Singh, the fourth defendant, helped dispose of the body while keeping watch. He claimed, “The accused hid the body in a basement after strangling the child to silence her.”
Following the victim’s mother’s allegation, Mangaluru Rural police opened a case under many provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POSCO) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). According to the POSCO Act, these sections include: 120B (criminal conspiracy), 366A (kidnapping), 376D (gang rape), 377 (unnatural acts), 302 (murder), 201 (causing loss of evidence), 34 (common intention), and 6.
Following the inquiry, a thorough charge sheet was presented to the court by then-Inspector Johnson D’Souza. The court reviewed 74 papers and 30 witness statements. Judge KS Manu sentenced the three accused to death under IPC sections 302, 376D, 120B, 34, and Section 6 of the POSCO Act after carefully weighing the evidence.
In addition, the offenders were fined ₹10,000 apiece and given five years of hard labor under IPC Sections 366A and 34. Additionally, the court fined each of the three offenders ₹20,000 and sentenced them to 10 years of hard imprisonment under IPC Sections 377 and 34. In accordance with IPC sections 201 and 34, the court further fined them ₹10,000 apiece and sentenced them to five years of hard labor.
The victim’s parents will receive ₹1,20,000 from the judge’s fine and an additional ₹3,80,000 from the district legal aid authority’s rape victims’ compensation program.
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