The Belagavi POCSO Additional District Sessions Court has sentenced Uddappa Ramappa Ganigera (32) to death for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in 2017. The accused lured the child, who was playing outside her home, with chocolate and took her to a nearby sugarcane field where he assaulted her. He then killed the girl by suffocating her with mud. The incident was reported at the Harugeri police station.
After a thorough investigation, the court sentenced Uddappa to death by hanging and imposed a fine of ₹45,000. Additionally, the court directed the District Legal Authority to provide ₹3 lakh as compensation to the victim’s family.
This case is reportedly the first in the state where the death penalty has been imposed under the POCSO Act. The judgment follows a similar case in Guwahati, where a warden was sentenced to death for the rape case of 21 children under the same law.
