A CBI court here on Saturday awarded death sentence to convict Rahul Raj in a rape and murder case of an engineering student in 2016 at her home in the city's Booty Basti.
Special judge of the CBI court Anil Kumar Mishra awarded the death sentence to the convict with fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), life imprisonment with fine of Rs 5,000 each under Sections 376 and 449 of the IPC and seven years rigorous imprisonment with fine of Rs 5,000 under Section 201 of the IPC.
The convict Rahul is a resident of Dhurgaon, Nalanda district in Bihar and was convicted for raping and then murdering the victim.
CBI had registered a case on March 28, 2018, under Sections 448, 302, 201, 328, 376, 511 and 34 of IPC against unknown persons on the request of Jharkhand government.
The case was earlier registered on December 16, 2016, at Sadar Police Station in Ranchi and was later handed over to the CID of Jharkhand.
On December 15, 2016, late-night, a 4th-semester student of the Engineering College, Ormanjhi, Ranchi, was alone in her house at Booty Basti and was found dead.
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On December 16, 2016, early morning, the elder sister of the victim, who was with her parents at Barkakana in Ramgarh district, tried to contact the victim on her mobile. However, when she did not get any response from the victim, she called up a neighbour to check.
The neighbour, who was previously their tenant at Ranchi, visited the victim's house and saw that the victim was lying dead in her room.
As soon as the news regarding rape and murder of the victim spread, the students of the Engineering College reached the place and demanded immediate justice for the victim. The students also held a candle march.
The CBI took over the investigation of the case from the state police and found that Rahul, who was living in the nearby area around three months before the occurrence of the crime, left the place.
During further investigation, it was found that Rahul was absconding. He had hidden his identity and used various names. He was traced and was initially arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
The convict was examined and his blood sample was obtained for DNA examination. His DNA profile was matched with the deceased.
After thorough investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet in the designated court on September 13, 2019, against Rahul. The court framed charges against the accused on October 25, 2019.
During a very short period of about 16 days, all 30 prosecution witnesses were produced and examined by the CBI court, which found the accused guilty and convicted him on Friday.