A rapist-murderer of a minor girl was spared the gallows by the Supreme Court which punished him instead with a 30-year jail term without remission.
The accused Selvam, who hailed from Tamil Nadu was sentenced to death by the trial court and Madras High Court, taking note of the diabolic manner in which the offence was committed against a child.Terming the case as the “rarest of rare”, the trial court had on March 12, 2010 said that the accused killed the nine-year old girl, a student of sClass IV, to satisfy his thirst for lust. As the parents of the victim had gone for pilgrimage, the accused lured the girl to his house where he was alone and raped her. later, he hit the girl with a cot frame that caused her instant death.
The incident occurred on February 12, 2009 and the prosecution was successful in proving the crime about which the accused later confessed to police.