Suspects Behind Rape and Murder of 8-Year-Old Indian Girl Avoid Death Penalty

Prosecutors of the case had asked the court to give the three suspects the death penalty, but they were instead given a life in prison sentence, according to Daily Mail. One of the attackers was identified as Sanji Ram, who was a retired public servant and the custodian of the temple where the horrific crime was committed early last year.

 

Bano was reportedly grazing her family’s horses when a 19-year-old man approached and manipulated her into come to a nearby forest on January 10, 2018. There, the man dragged the helpless child into the temple where she was drugged and raped repeatedly for three days by the man and his two other accomplices before she was murdered.

The girl’s mutilated body was found a week later after the attack in the woods. Forensic investigation revealed that she had been drugged using anti-anxiety medication and was repeatedly raped, burned, bludgeoned with a rock, and strangled.

 

During the trial at Pathankot, India on Monday, Ram was accused of conspiring with others to tamper crucial evidence related to the case. Unnamed police officers were also being accused of accepting bribes to hinder the investigation.

Others connected to the case have also received punishments for their crimes including three people, two of which are police officers, who received five-year of prison sentences. A seventh man, however, was acquitted, while the eighth, an underage suspect, faces a separate trial.

Featured image (left) screenshot via YouTube / SABC Digital News, (right) via Twitter / SonuSood