Supreme Court stays death penalty of man convicted for rape and murder of 5-year-old girl

The Supreme Court recently stayed the death penalty awarded to a man convicted of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl in Bhopal [Atul Nihale vs. State of Madhya Pradesh].

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and NV Anjaria directed authorities to collect information about the convict’s mental condition, prison conduct and background before examining the question of sentencing.

The Court also permitted mitigation investigator Devika Rawat of the Square Circle Clinic at NALSAR University of Law to interview the convict in prison and prepare a mitigation investigation report regarding sentencing.

Jail authorities were directed to ensure the interviews are conducted confidentially without prison officials within hearing distance.

The case stemmed from the disappearance of a five-year-old girl from her neighbourhood in Bhopal in 2024.

According to the prosecution, the girl’s mother lodged a complaint at Shahjahanabad Police Station on September 24, 2024 after the child did not return home. Based on the complaint, the police registered a missing person report and began searching for the child.

Two days later, on September 26, police noticed a foul smell during a search operation in Bajpai Nagar at Eidgah Hills.

The search led them to a flat in the locality. When police entered the apartment, they discovered the child’s body inside a white plastic water tank placed in the bathroom. The body was later identified by the child’s father and relatives.

During the investigation, police arrested the accused who lived in the same apartment from where the child’s body was recovered.

Investigators recorded the accused’s disclosure statement and seized several items from the flat including clothes and a knife. The seized articles, along with biological samples, were sent for forensic examination.

DNA testing conducted at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory linked the accused with material recovered from the crime scene.

In March 2025, the trial court convicted the accused for several offences under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), including rape and murder. The trial judge awarded multiple sentences, including death penalty for certain offences.

The accused challenged the conviction and death sentence before the Madhya Pradesh High Court.

A High Court bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Ramkumar Choubey recorded that the accused had gagged the girl, and used a knife for enlarging her vagina so his penis could enter with ease. When blood started spurting out her vagina, he wiped it with a cloth and continued raping her. After her eventual death, the accused put her body in a plastic tank.

Further, it noted that the accused had failed to provide any explanation as to how the child’s body was found inside the flat where he was residing. The High Court also examined the medical evidence which clearly established that the child had been sexually assaulted and had died due to severe injuries in the pelvic region.

The High Court concluded that the extreme brutality involved in the offence placed the case within the “rarest of rare” category and upheld the death sentence awarded by the trial court.

The accused challenged this decision before the Supreme Court.

The top court has stayed the death sentence and said it will examine the matter after receiving the various reports relating to the convict’s psychological condition, conduct in prison and mitigating circumstances.

Among other directions, it has also asked the Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre to conduct a psychological evaluation of the convict through a specialised team and submit its findings within twelve weeks.

The case will be heard next after sixteen weeks.

The accused was represented by advocates Rishad Ahmed Chowdhury, Nadia Shalin, Ahona Chatterjee and Sohini Sanyal.

The State was represented by advocates Rajan Kumar Chourasia and Mrinal Gopal Elker.

[Read Order]