Jharkhand High Court Commutes Death Sentence Of Person Convicted For Rape & Murder Of Five-Year-Old Girl

The Jharkhand High Court recently commuted the death sentence of an accused convicted of the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl to life imprisonment, holding that the possibility of reform and rehabilitation of the accused could not be ruled out.A Division Bench of Justice Sujit Narayan Prasad and Justice Arun Kumar Rai was hearing a matter in which the accused, Indar Oraon, had been found guilty and convicted for offences under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. He had been sentenced to death under Section 302 IPC and to rigorous imprisonment for life under Section 6 of the POCSO Act.According to the prosecution, on 24 December 2022 at around 3:00 PM, the informant, along with her younger daughter (the victim, aged about five years), went to the roof of an Anganwadi centre for parching paddy. The accused, Indar Oraon, aged about 25 years, arrived at the spot and offered money to the child. Subsequently, the informant was informed that her daughter was lying dead. When the accused attempted to flee, he was apprehended by villagers, who stated that he had attempted to commit rape upon the victim behind a house and, when she raised an alarm, stifled her neck, causing her death. The prosecution alleged that the accused killed the victim during the attempted rape.The Court relied upon the “last seen” theory and the settled principles governing circumstantial evidence. While it confirmed the conviction, the Court held:“69. It is also well established and proved through the circumstantial chain that accused Indar Oraon caused other children to have some refreshment and thereafter enticed the deceased/victim towards secluded place inside the bathroom of Tewasi Oraon. It has been also proved by cogent prosecution evidences that the victim/deceased was last seen with the accused Indar Oraon on 24.12.2022 during eveningperiod and accused was also seen covering the body of deceased beneath the flower plant situated near the bathroom of Tewasi Oraon…”On the question of sentence, the Court noted that the possibility of reformation, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of the appellant could not be ruled out. At the same time, the Court observed that it could not lose sight of the manner in which the deceased was murdered after being subjected to rape, and accordingly held that:“94. In the facts of this case, we are of the considered view, that though the extreme penalty of death was not warranted in the facts of this case, but the accused does not deserve any major leniency in the matter of remission of the sentence. As such, the impugned order of sentence, awarding the capital punishment of death to the appellant, Indar Oraon, for the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, is hereby, commuted to the life sentence.”The Court also held that the parents of the deceased are victims of the crime and directed that they be duly compensated under the Victim Compensation Scheme in terms of Section 357-A of the CrPC / Section 396 of the BNSS, 2023.Title: State of Jharkhand v. Indar OraonCase Number: Death Reference No. 1 of 2025Appearance: Mr. Pankaj Kumar and Ms. Sharda Kumari appeared for the State. Mr. Mahesh Tewari appeared for the accused. Mr. Kumar Vaibhav appeared as amicus curiae.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Jharkhand High Court Commutes Death Sentence Of Person Convicted For Rape & Murder Of Five-Year-Old Girl

Rushil Batra

Tags