Durg, Sept. 11 -- A Fast Track Special POCSO Court has awarded a double death sentence to a man for the rape and murder of a minor girl in Chhattisgarh's Durg last year. The six-year-old went missing on April 6, 2025, after leaving her home in Urla Basti around 10 am to attend a Ram Navami Kanya Bhoj. Her father subsequently lodged a missing person report at Mohan Nagar police station.
A search operation was launched and the girl's body was found the same night inside a Tata Zest car parked in a vacant plot near the area.
Following a preliminary examination, police registered charges related to murder, disappearance of evidence and aggravated penetrative sexual assault under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and POCSO Act. A dedicated investigation team was formed under Additional Superintendent of Police Padmashree Tanwar. Investigators collected and preserved physical, biological and digital evidence, including the victim's clothes, hair, nail scrapings, medical slides and CCTV footage.
Somesh Yadav was arrested on April 8, 2025, and sent to judicial custody. Despite some witnesses turning hostile during the trial, the prosecution established the case through physical, medical and electronic evidence.
The court awarded death sentences under the POCSO Act.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.