A special POCSO court here awarded death sentence to a man for the rape and murder of a minor girl in West Bengal's Jalpaiguri district.

Noting that the victim was of the same age as the accused's daughter, the judge observed that the crime falls under the rarest of rare category.

The court sentenced convict Haripada Roy to death for the rape and murder of the girl.

Jalpaiguri special POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) court judge Rintu Sur also directed the district legal services authority to pay Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim's family.

He was also sentenced to seven years' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5,000 for destroying evidence.

The 11-year-old girl was abducted from in front of her house by the accused before raping and murdering her on September 29, 2023, prosecution lawyer Debasish Dutta said.

The lawyer said that since the panchayat board was being formed on that day, most of the villagers went there, including the victim's father and uncle.

After they returned, the girl's mother told them that she had been missing since 2 pm, and when she was not found after an extensive search, the uncle lodged a missing complaint at Dhupguri police station in Jalpaiguri district.

The body of the girl was found in a sack near a local river a few days later. A post mortem examination of the body revealed that she had been raped and strangulated to death, Dutta added.

The accused, a neighbour, was arrested following statements by locals that the girl was seen entering his house, followed by the recovery of evidence, the prosecution lawyer said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.