When Nirbhaya incident had taken place and we saw entire country on the streets standing with placards in their hands in protest demanding stringent most punishment for the rapists, one thought perhaps finally, there has been an uproar in the country against rapes, gangrapes, molestations, eve-teasing and stalking. Perhaps, it was too much to expect. Within a week, a gangrape had surfaced in a school in Delhi. The rape was similar on the lines of Nirbhaya that was still red hot and protesters still sat on so-called ‘dharna’ but unfortunately, nobody stood or included the incident as if everything was well scripted and edited.

A special court in Ghaziabad has awarded death sentence to Sonu Gupta, guilty of kidnapping, raping and killing the toddler. The rape had taken place on December 1, 2022. The dead body was found the next day near the city forest area in Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh. Six police teams were deputed to crack the case. Police personnel obtained around 150 CCTV footage. Police had arrested Sonu Gupta (20) from 40-feet road of Deendayal Puri of Nandgram police station six days after the incident and he was sent to jail. The verdict was pronounced by Additional District and Sessions under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO). However, the speed shown in this case certainly needs to complimented. Sonu was nabbed within 15 days of the incident.

“The court on Friday held Sonu guilty after listening to 16 witnesses,” the officer said.

Gupta, a factory worker, confessed that he had kidnapped the girl with the intention to rape her but strangled her to death when she started screaming.

Police sought help of DNA test in the investigation. An entry ticket of city forest park was also recovered from the rape accused, which confirmed his presence in that area, DCP Sharma said.

Nothing has changed rather incidents like Nirbhaya had increased at a galloping rate. Death sentence was pronounced in a recent rape of a toddler that ashamed humanity. The guilty Sonu during conducting the medical examination had arrogantly said that he had enjoyed the entire incident. However, he pleaded for mercy when death sentence was pronounced by the court. This shows the mentality and arrogance these people have and perhaps, this is also one of the reason why such incidents are not subsiding. The need of the hour is stringent most punishment that would infuse a ‘fear factor’ in them so that they would think many times before even staring at a girl or women.