Dismissing an appeal filed by accused Pappu, a division bench of justices Shashi Kant Gupta and Prabhat Chandra Tripathi observed that rape of innocent children is a crime against humanity and in such cases, responsibility on the shoulders of court is more onerous so as to provide legal protection to these children.
On December 8, 2016, the court of additional sessions judge had awarded the death sentence to Pappu.
The court further said, "Records of this case reveal that the accused - appellant Pappu - is a married person. In his statement recorded under Section 313 Criminal Procedure Code, his age has been mentioned as 35 years whereas in the post- mortem report of the deceased girl, her age has been mentioned as seven years.
However, while delivering the judgement, the court directed that in compliance with under Section 415 of the CrPC, the execution of the sentence will be postponed until the period allowed for preferring such appeal before the Supreme Court has expired or if an appeal is preferred before the Supreme Court within that period, until such appeal is disposed of by the Supreme Court.