Transgender Sentenced For Kidnapping, Raping & Murdering 3-Month-Old Infant

A 24-year-old transgender man allegedly kidnapped, raped, and murdered a three-month-old infant girl in the act of revenge in Mumbai. The child was then left to rot in the muddy pit to destroy the evidence. The incident happened in 2021, and on Tuesday, a special POCSO court punished the accused with a death sentence. Calling the case "extreme depravity,"  the court granted the maximum sentence prescribed for the offences.

As per the reports, the bench of Justice Aditee Uday Kadam said, "When a budding infant or girl child is exterminated in a very ghastly and shocking manner, the social fabric gets permanently damaged beyond repair." 

Rarest of rare case: the POCSO court

He further added, "Crime smacks a degradation of a girl child, depravity, and perversity. Barbaric and inhuman manners to commit offenses made it the ‘rarest of rare case’. It is a crime that would send a, ‘chill down the spine’ of every parent of a girl child, especially in poor vicinity." 

Special public prosecutor Rakesh Tiwari had demanded a death sentence for the accused by saying that the accused treated the deceased girl as a "commodity-animal". "Looking into the behavioural pattern of the accused…it is impossible that he would reform or rehabilitate,” the prosecutor said. 

How did the infant get kidnapped?

As per the prosecution's case, the missing report of the infant was filed in July 2021 at Cuffe Parade police station. As per the report, the girl went missing during the wee hours of July 9, 2021. The family had left the doors of the house open to let some air in during the summers. The noise of a cat entering the house and dropping the utensil woke the mother of the infant. But when she turned on the lights, she couldn't find the girl. 

In a supplementary statement, the mother talked about her suspicions that the transgender person could be the culprit. She based her doubts on an incident that happened on July 8, 2021, a day before the infant was kidnapped. The mother said that the transgender person had come to her house demanding gifts, including a saree, coconut, and Rs 1,100 to bless the newborn child. However, her mother-in-law refused and said that their financial status was not good due to the aftermath of the lockdown. The mother-in-law said that she would give the gifts to the transgender person later. 

The mother further added that the transgender had threatened them and said that within 5–6 days they would do something to become famous. Two neighbours also backed her suspicion by claiming that they had seen the transgender person, who lives in the same neighbourhood, carrying a "bundle" on their shoulder at 2 am on the day of the incident.

The prosecution's submissions further showed that, based on the complaint, the transgender person was arrested, who then led the police to the spot where the rape happened. The infant's body was recovered, and the accused was taken into custody.