M A I N   N E W S

Death penalty for rapist-killer of 75-yr-old woman
Sushil Manav/TNS

Sirsa, March 13
A local court today awarded death sentence to a youth for the rape and murder of a 75-year-old woman at Sawantkhera village in Sirsa in February last year. The youth, Nikka Singh (22), had confronted the victim when she had gone for a stroll after lunch. He had strangulated her with her ‘salwar’ after raping her.

Terming the act as the rarest-of-rare cases, the order pronounced by Additional District and Sessions Judge Neelima Shangla today said the existence of a person like Nikka Singh on the Earth was a great danger to society, and hence awarding the death sentence to him would satisfy the interest of justice.

On that fateful day, the victim did not return home after going out for a stroll at about 1 pm. Her family members had found her body in a mustard field in the evening.

She had been killed by gagging with the help of her shawl and strangulated with her ‘salwar’.

The postmortem confirmed that she had been raped before the killer strangulated her.

Leaves of the mustard crop were found in her nose, suggesting a struggle at the time of the crime.