Kochi: A Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court on Wednesday sentenced a youth to a double life term for raping and murdering a four-month pregnant Plus-Two student in 2020.
The accused Safar Shah was convicted for abducting the 17-year-old girl from Kaloor and sexually assaulting her at a tea plantation in Valparai before finally murdering her. The murder took place on January 7, 2020.
The accused decided to murder the victim as she withdrew from the relationship. Shah abducted her on the pretext of taking her to Athirappilly. She was stabbed to death at Valparai. Shah was caught while returning from the tea estate.
Initially, Safar Shah was not a suspect in the missing girl complaint. The police took him into custody during a probe into a car theft. The accused had taken the girl to Valparai in a car from his workplace, a service centre.
When the car was stopped and checked at the check post, blood stains were found inside. When Safar Shah was taken into custody and questioned, the details of the murder came out. The body was recovered later that night.
An autopsy report revealed that the girl was sexually assaulted before the murder and that she was four months pregnant. The accused killed the girl by stabbing her several times in the chest and abdomen. The accused was charged with murder, torture and charges under the POCSO Act.
