Amaravati: A fast-track court in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur on Friday sentenced a youth to death, pronouncing him guilty of murdering a third-year engineering student in broad daylight in the city on Independence Day last year.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court will have to affirm the special court's sentence.
Reacting to the verdict, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy hailed the judgment and appreciated the prosecution team.
A third-year engineering student, N Ramya, was stabbed to death in broad daylight by one Sasi Krishna on a main road in Guntur city on August 15, 2021.
Krishna befriended Ramya on a social media platform but she subsequently spurned his love.
On the fateful day, Ramya was walking on the Kakani Road when Krishna approached her on his motorbike. He asked her to get on the two-wheeler but she she refused and an altercation followed.
The assailant then took out a knife and stabbed her repeatedly on the neck and stomach and fled the scene.
Locals rushed to the spot and immediately moved the profusely bleeding girl to hospital. She, however, succumbed to her injuries in the GGH.
Police arrested the accused within 24 hours and he has been in jail as an under-trial prisoner for the past eight months.
Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage obtained from a local shop nailed the assailant and the police used it as a crucial evidence in the trial.
In all, 28 witnesses were examined in the case since the trial began in December last year.
Judge Ram Gopal delivered the sentence on Friday after finding the accused guilty of the offence under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, according to Guntur Superintendent of Police Arif Hafeez.
"The accused did not show any remorse even after committing a heinous crime. Moreover, he tried to escape from the court while the trial was on. The court, thus, feels he has to be punished sternly," the judge observed and sentenced Krishna to death by hanging.
Calling it a "historic verdict", Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a statement, congratulated the police and the public prosecutor for successfully prosecuting the case.
He said the verdict would send a clear message to those who seek to attack girls and women.
The government had, soon after the incident last year, handed over an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh to the victim's family.
