Bihar shopkeeper sentenced to death for rape, murder of 15-yr-old girl in 2009

SASARAM: A Bihar shopkeeper has been sentenced to death for raping and killing a 15-year-old girl who worked at his sister’s matrimonial home in 2009.

Sasaram’s additional district and sessions judge Manoj Kumar convicted Shahid of Buxar district on the two charges on Thursday and imposed a ₹76,000 fine.

According to the prosecution, Shahid, a resident of Dhansoin in Buxar, was visiting his sister at her matrimonial home in Semri village of the adjoining Rohtas district on June 16, 2009 when the incident took place

The teenager had just finished pasting cow dung cakes on a wall for drying at their house and went home. Shahid followed her and raped her, additional public prosecutor (APP) Vidya Sagar Rai said.

Once he was done, he strangled her and left.

Shahid was arrested for her rape and murder. The trial started in 2010 and it took more than a decade for the court to examine the 11 prosecution witnesses.

In its verdict, Rai said the court sentenced Shahid, who ran a grocery shop, to death. The court noted that the girl lost her father at an early age and lived with her mother. Judge Manoj Kumar explained the decision to impose the death penalty, saying that Shahid was not entitled to live and move freely in society and would pose a risk to girls even inside their houses.