The division bench of Justices Shantanu Kemkar and MC Garg upheld the decision of a lower court in Manawar town in Dhar district awarding death sentence to - Sunil - for raping and murdering his four-year-old niece (daughter of maternal cousin brother) at Karoli village on October 31, 2012.
The capital punishment was earlier awarded by additional sessions judge Avinash Kumar Khare on December 5, 2012, to Sunil under sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
Sunil had raped the minor girl in a nearby agriculture field and later strangulated her to death.
He committed the offence on the pretext of taking his niece to her parents.
The medical report had confirmed rape of the victim.