Kotkhai Rape, Murder Convict Sentenced Life Imprisonment: 10 Things To Know

Kotkhai Rape Case: The lone accused in the Kotkhai rape and murder case got life imprisonment by the district and sessions judge of Shimla, Rajiv Bharadwaj, who is the special CBI judge on Friday.

Trigger Warning: This article has content that can be disturbing and contains graphic details.

Things to know about the Kotkhai rape case

• A 16-year-old girl hailing from a forest in Shimla's Kotkhai region went missing in July 2017. She was in Class 10 and was reportedly walking back home from school at that time before she went missing.
• The girl's body was found two days later naked in the forest with her clothes nearby. An autopsy of the girl's body proved rape and murder.
• The police, then, arrested six suspects in the Kotkhai rape case. After one of the six suspects died allegedly due to a severe beating from police, violent protests were ignited in the area. After this incident, the rape and murder case was handed over to CBI.
• During the CBI investigation, one of the accused men was seen by several witnesses on the day of the crime. One of them also sold a liquor bottle to him which was found on the crime site. Days after the rape and murder of the 16-year-old, the accused also allegedly sexually assaulted a widow who became a key witness in the case.
• According to the CBI charge sheet, the accused Anil Kumar consumed liquor in the afternoon and encountered the victim on a deserted route while she was returning home from school. After an altercation with the minor girl, the man dragged her to the first where he raped her and then strangled her to death.
• CBI produced 14 crucial points of evidence against the accused Anil Kumar alias Nilu. Out of these 14, 12 were found to be against the accused.
• One of them was the DNA report of the blood sample of the accused matched to the semen found in the deceased's organs.
• Anil Kumar alias Nilu, a woodcutter was found guilty of the rape and murder of a minor girl in the special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
• He was convicted under Sections 376 (2) (i), 376 (A), and 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the POCSO Act.
• Anil Kumar is sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000. In case of default in payment of the fine, the accused will have to undergo one year of imprisonment.