Chandigarh, March 20 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of a rape and murder convict to life term. The convict Sonu Singh (28) had raped and killed a 4-year -old girl in Ludhiana in December 2023.

The high court bench of justice Anoop Chitkara and justice Sukhvinder Kaur ordered that the accused shall not be released unless he has served a minimum actual sentence of fifty years, without counting remissions.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs.75 lakh on the accused and said that whatever amount is recovered should be given to the victim's parents and siblings in equal shares.

On December 28, 2023, the 4-year-old victim, referred to as Laadli by the court, was allegedly taken away by Singh f...