India, March 25 -- The Bombay High Court on Tuesday struck down a lower court's order handing a death penalty to a Nashik resident for allegedly raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl, observing that the accused had been denied an opportunity to defend himself during the trial.

"At every single stage, there was a violation of the procedure of fair trial," said a division bench of justices Sarang Kotwal and Sandesh Patil, while remanding the matter back to the lower court for a fresh trial.

The Nashik sessions court had earlier convicted Vilas Mahale of raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl from his village near Vani in Nashik district in 2017, and sentenced him to death.

The court also convicted his brother, Pravin, and parent...