Bhubaneswar: A special Pocso court in Angul district on Friday sentenced a 40-year-old man, Babula Jena, to death for the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in March last year. This is the third capital punishment handed down in Odisha this year in connection with cases of sexual assault and murder of minors.According to police, the child went missing on March 13, 2025, while playing outside her home. Despite frantic searches by family and neighbours, she could not be found. Her father lodged a missing complaint the following day. The girl’s body was discovered in a nearby forest on March 15. A post-mortem confirmed death due to neck compression, with evidence of sexual assault.“The accused was identified and arrested on March 17, four days after the crime. The investigation involved meticulous examination of three crime scenes, forensic evidence collection, witness interrogation, DNA sampling, recovery of incriminating articles, and the accused’s confessional statement. I personally supervised the case,” said SP (Angul) Rahul Jain. “Close coordination with the prosecution and the court at every stage ensured swift justice and successful conviction,” he added.Jain said under the reformed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) laws, cases involving crimes against women and children are now being investigated and tried in a time-bound manner, resulting in faster trials and higher conviction rates.On Jan 6, 2026, a court in Bargarh sentenced a 25-year-old man to death for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in 2024. Just weeks later, on March 26, a Berhampur court awarded the death penalty to a 30-year-old man for raping a 12-year-old girl and attempting to murder her in 2021.
