The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court sentenced three men to death in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, today for the brutal gangrape and murder of a minor girl in January 2018. The three men, Israel, Zulfikar, and Dilshad were convicted of raping and murdering a minor girl in a moving car in a case that sent shockwaves throughout Uttar Pradesh.
On 2nd January 2018, the minor victim, aged 17, was on her way home back from tuition classes on her cycle. During this period, the girl was forcefully removed from her cycle abducted by the three men driving in an Alto car. In this moving car, the minor girl was repeatedly raped, murdered, and then unceremoniously dumped in a sewer by the three monsters. The girl’s body was found on January 4. Soon after, Dilshad, Israel, and Zulfikar were arrested from Sikandrabad and promptly put behind bars.
In an interrogation with the Bulandshahr Police, Zulfikar and Dilshad gave a bizarre and outrageous motive for their heinous crime. According to them, the reason why they decided to go to Bulandshahr on the day of the incident was because of the nice weather, and the fact that they wanted to do some “mauj masti”. “Mauj Masti” in its colloquial meaning means “having fun”. However, “Mauj Masti” for the three convicted men in this context specifically meant abducting a girl and sexually assaulting, possibly raping her.
According to Zulfikar, the three men reached Bulandshahr’s Bhoor Chauraha by 6:00 P.M. on the day of the incident. Here, they spent their time stalking several girls, going around in their Alto. Going towards Chandpur, they saw the minor victim riding her cycle back home. They then grabbed the victim off of her cycle, pulled her inside their car and then fleed the scene.
Zulfikar further added that in the moving car, Israel sexually assaulted the minor girl, whilst Dilshad was holding down the girl’s hands. As the girl started shouting in an attempt to save herself, the three men, seemingly without any care for consequence, decided to kill the minor girl for this. Zulfikar kept driving the car as Israel and Dilshad strangled the minor girl to death with her own dupatta. After this odious and abominable act, the men then simply threw the body of the victim in a sewer, in a most undignified manner.
After the police concluded its investigation, proceedings were initiated against the three accused in a POCSO court. The POCSO court judge held all three accused guilty of aducting, raping and then murdering a minor girl. For these monstrous and horrific acts, the POCSO judge sentenced all three accused to be hanged from the neck until death.
The parents of the minor girl have welcomed the POCSO court decision, declaring it a victory of justice. The mother of the victim expressed her wish to see the hanging of three convicts in person.
