'Rarest Of Rare': UP Man Gets Death Penalty For Rape, Murder Of Minor Boy In Punjab

A special POCSO court has awarded the death penalty to Nanke Yadav, a native of Uttar Pradesh, for the abduction, sexual assault and murder of a five-year-old boy in Punjab's Hoshiarpur district.

Judge Manpreet Kaur held that the gravity of the crime placed it in the "rarest of rare" category. The death sentence will require confirmation from the Punjab and Haryana High Court before it can be carried out.

The case dates back to September 9, 2023, when the five-year-old was allegedly abducted while playing outside his house in New Deep Nagar. His body was recovered the following day from a cremation ground in Purhiran.

The case had triggered widespread outrage in Hoshiarpur, with the child's family and local residents demanding the harshest punishment for the accused. The prosecution presented evidence before the court, following which Yadav was convicted under Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.

The court pronounced the sentence a day before the statutory deadline under Section 35 of the POCSO Act, which requires special courts to endeavour to complete trials within a year of taking cognisance of a case.

The verdict marks a significant judicial milestone for the victim's family, which had been awaiting justice since the child's murder.

The case also sparked protests and controversy over the presence of migrant workers in the area, with several panchayats subsequently passing resolutions concerning migrant settlements. Those developments, however, were separate from the court's determination of the accused's criminal liability in this case.