MP HC upholds triple death sentence in Bhopal rape case:Court calls 5-year-old’s rape and murder ‘rarest of rare’ case

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld the triple death sentence awarded to Atul Nihale, convicted in the case of rape and murder of a 5-year-old innocent girl in Bhopal’s Shahjahanabad area. The accused’s family had challenged the special court’s decision. Following this, the main bench of the High Court located in Jabalpur pronounced this important decision on Friday. The double bench of Justice Vivek Agrawal and Justice Ramkumar Chaube, categorising this heinous crime as one of the ‘rarest of rare cases’, stated that it is such an inhuman act whose horror cannot be described in words. The double bench stated in its verdict that the accused Atul Nihale committed an extremely inhuman and barbaric crime. According to the court, the accused repeatedly stabbed the girl’s private parts with a knife during the rape, leading to her death on the spot. ‘Mere thought sends shivers down the spine’
The court stated that the unbearable pain a five-year-old girl endured in her final moments cannot be expressed in words. The mere imagination of her helplessness and pain during the rape makes the soul tremble. This is why this case demands capital punishment, going far beyond ordinary penalties. Cruelty continued even after murder
The court also seriously noted that after the child’s death, the accused hid her body in his house’s water tank for three days. The court considered this as proof of the accused’s mental cruelty and the heinousness of the crime. Verdict based on strong evidence
Special Public Prosecutor Divya Shukla represented the state government in the case. The High Court held that the prosecution presented a strong and unbroken chain of evidence, from the sequence of events to the role of the accused. On this basis, no scope for leniency was found in the lower court’s decision. Verdict pronounced in six months Mother and sister sentenced for concealing evidence
Atul has also received a double life sentence under various sections. The convict’s mother, Basanti Nihale, and sister, Chanchal, were sentenced to two years in prison each for concealing evidence. What is the case?
The deceased child went missing on September 24, 2024, while playing from her uncle’s flat. Two days later, her body was found in the water tank at the accused’s house. Delivering the verdict in this case, Bhopal Court’s Special Judge Kumudini Patel described this heinous crime as a ‘rarest of rare’ case. She had stated that if there was any punishment greater than the death penalty, it should have been given to the accused.