Death penalty for rapist

Warangal: An unusual grin flashed on the faces of most of the people who were present on the premises of Warangal District Court when the Judge on Thursday pronounced death sentence to 28-year-old Polepaka Praveen who molested and killed a nine-month-old infant in Hanamkonda on June 19.

Considering the time elapsed – 51 days – since one of the heinous crimes that Warangal had ever witnessed, it was a landmark judgment indeed.

The judgment may not bring back their loving child, but it would certainly be a solace for the parents of the infant - K Jagan and Rachana.

The day began with all eyes on First Additional District/ POCSO Special Court Judge K Jaya Kumar, and of course the accused Praveen who was whisked to the court room amid tight security by the police.

Bringing down curtains to the trial that began on July 24 taking cognizance of no less than 30 witnesses and CCTV footage that corroborated the crime committed by Praveen, the Judge Jaya Kumar passed a sentence of death by hanging to Praveen.

It may be recalled here the fateful night intervening June 18 and 19, Praveen picked up nine-month-old Srihitha when she was fast asleep aside her mother on the terrace of a three-storied building in Kumarpally area of Hanamkonda.

Before the infant's mother and other relatives noticed, Praveen took the baby to a secluded place in the same neighbourhood where he molested her. The infant died before she was taken to a hospital.

The case triggered a lot of ruckus in the city with Opposition parties and civil societies taking to streets demanding capital punishment to the accused.

With the police taking their own time to file the charge sheet in a fool-proof manner, the protests continued demanding the intervention of State Government to set up a fast-track court to punish the accused so that it would be an eye opener to the unscrupulous persons.

Against this backdrop, the Warangal Police Commissionerate took the case as a challenge and completed the investigation headed by ACP Ch Sridhar, Inspectors A Sampath and P Sadaiah in three weeks coming up with a fool-proof chargesheet obtaining DNA, post-mortem, FSL and other reports.

It may be mentioned here that the police registered cases under Sections IPC 376 A, 376 AB, 449, 363, 379, 302and Section 5 (IM) read with Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act of 2018 against accused.

Minister for Panchayat Raj Errabelli Dayakar Rao said: "The judgement is a stern warning to those perverts who were resorting to crimes against women and children."

Warangal West MLA Dasyam Vinay Bhasker said: "It's a welcome judgment. A solace to the infant's parents." Warangal commissioner of Police V Ravinder said: "We took it as a challenge and gathered information in a scientific manner, so that the accused get a maximum punishment."