High Court commutes death sentence in Haldia rape-murder of minor

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of a convict to life imprisonment without remission for 20 years in a case where he was found guilty of raping and murdering a 14-year-old girl who worked as a domestic help in his residence.

The judgment was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi.

The incident occurred in August 2016 in Haldia, where the minor had been employed for over two years. On the day of the incident, the convict telephoned the victim’s maternal uncle claiming the girl was unwell. When the family arrived, they found her dead inside the bathroom of the house, with her body extensively burnt. Subsequent investigation and autopsy revealed that the girl had been strangled and subjected to repeated sexual assault. The medical report confirmed that the burn injuries were inflicted after death, suggesting an attempt to destroy evidence.

Testimonies presented during the trial established that the girl was alone in the house with the accused at the time of the incident. Witnesses confirmed the accused was present and seen calling neighbours shortly before the body was discovered. The neighbours, who entered the house along with him, found the victim lying dead inside the bathroom with smoke still rising from her body. Investigators recovered kerosene containers and other materials from the scene. Forensic and autopsy reports confirmed that the victim had died of throttling and had been burnt after death.

The accused did not provide any credible explanation for the death of the girl in his custody. The court found the evidence sufficient to uphold the conviction under relevant charges, including rape, murder and destruction of evidence. Taking into account the convict’s age, clean prior record and family background, the court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, to be served without remission for a minimum of 20 years. Authorities were instructed to update prison records accordingly.