Supreme Court upholds death sentence for Ranchi rape and murder convict

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of raping and murdering a student in Ranchi in 2016.

A bench comprising Justices Ananda Sen and Gautam Kumar Chaudhary heard the appeal filed by Rahul Raj, who had challenged his death sentence.

Raj was convicted by an Additional District Judge in Ranchi on December 20, 2019. The court highlighted the brutal and cruel manner in which he committed the crime and observed that only the death penalty was appropriate.

The crime took place on December 15, 2016, when the victim was returning home from college. Raj entered her house at around 4 am, raped her, strangled her with an iron wire and then set her body on fire after applying a lubricant.

The police conducted an intensive manhunt and arrested Raj, who later confessed to the crime. It was later revealed that Raj was also involved in a similar rape incident involving a minor girl in Patna.

(With contributions from agencies.)