India, Aug. 3 -- Public outcry and media coverage do not lessen the seriousness of an offence, the Delhi High Court has said while denying bail to a man accused of raping and murdering his eight-year-old cousin.

The man was booked under various provisions of Indian Penal Code including murder, kidnapping, and Section 6 (penetrative sexual assault) of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.

The FIR, filed in 2016, was based on a complaint by the victim's father, who reported that his daughter had been abducted while playing outside their home. Police learned that the accused had raped the girl, strangled her, concealed her body in a plastic bag, and buried it in a pit.

In his bail petition, the man said he was fal...