Pune, June 30 -- A Special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act court on Monday sentenced a 65-year-old man to death for the rape and murder of a three-and-a-half-year-old girl in Nasrapur near Pune in May, saying that the case fell within the "rarest of rare" category warranting hanging until death. Special judge SR Salunkhe said the prosecution established an "unbroken chain of circumstantial and forensic evidence" proving Bhimrao Kamble's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. He added the evidence established aggravating circumstances in favour of the prosecution. "The offences relate to the commission of serious crimes like murder and rape by an accused with a prior record and a substantial history of serious assault," said the court, which convicted Kamble on June 25, within sixty days of the rape and murder on May 1. Judge Salunkhe said the cold-blooded murder deeply shocked both the judicial and social conscience. He added Kamble was driven by "unbridled lust" and actedwith extreme ferocity, leaving behind horrific injuries that reflected completely inhuman behaviour. "The satisfaction of lust was the only motive," the court said. It added that Kamble appeared to have acted with a sense of complete impunity. "He seemed to believe, based on his past crime history, that even if he was prosecuted, nothing would happen to him." Kamble lured the girl with the promise of snacks and showing a newborn calf in Nasrapur. He took her to a shed near a cattle barn, subjected her to sexual and unnatural assault, and subsequently murdered her by gagging her and inflicting chest injuries. "The offence was committed outrageously and involved inhuman treatment and torture of the victim. The victim was an innocent, helpless child. The murder was committed to satisfy lust, which evidences total depravity. It was a cold-blooded murder without provocation." Judge Salunkhe cited that the sheer magnitude of the crime, the innocence of the toddler, and the horrifying details in the post-mortem reports and photographs, and said it firmly placed the matter in the "rarest of rare" category....