A special POCSO court in Kolkata on Tuesday sentenced a man guilty of rape and attempted murder of a seven-month-old child in north Kolkata to death by hanging.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) court at Bankshall court had on Monday convicted the man of kidnapping, rape and attempt to murder of the toddler from the city’s Burtolla area within 75 days of his arrest.

The quantum of punishment was announced by the court after hearing the final round of submissions from the defence counsel as well as the public prosecutor representing the state, who prayed for capital punishment arguing that the crime fell under the ‘rarest of the rare’ case category.

This was the seventh death sentence awarded by courts in West Bengal in the last six months and the sixth capital punishment awarded under POCSO Act for perpetrating sexual assault on minors.

The convict, Rajib Ghosh, was found guilty by judge Indrila Mukherjee under sections 65 (2), 140 (4), 137 (2) and 118 of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and Sec 6 of POCSO Act.

The first and last sections of the two Acts entailed death by hanging as maximum punishment for the convict.

Rajib Ghosh, who committed the crime on November 30 last year, was arrested in the early hours of December 5 from his residence in Gopiballavpur area of Jhargram district where he had fled.

Police filed their first charge sheet in the case on December 30 and days later followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet.

The victim, a dweller of a road-side shanty, is still undergoing treatment at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here, special public prosecutor Bibhas Chatterjee said on Monday.

Bibhas Chatterjee added that it took just 40 days to complete the trial process, which commenced on January 7.

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