Mysuru, 18 October

A special POCSO court here has sentenced a 31-year-old man to death and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh for raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl.

The incident took place during last year's Dasara festival, when the girl had accompanied her parents from north Karnataka to Mysuru to sell balloons.

Delivering the sentence on Saturday, Judge Anand P Hogade also directed the District Legal Services Authority to ensure compensation of Rs 13.50 lakh is provided to the victim's family.

The girl's parents were living in a makeshift hut on an open plot near the Nagaswamy temple in Ittigegud. They were preparing to return to their native place after the Dasara festivities when the girl's body was found in a drain beside their hut in the early hours of October 9, 2025.

Based on a complaint lodged by the girl's parents, a case was registered at the Nazarbad police station.

Police arrested Karthik, a native of Siddalingapura, after tracking his movements through CCTV footage. During the investigation, he allegedly attempted to escape while being brought back after a spot inspection. Police shot him in the right leg near Metagalli and apprehended him.

Following the investigation, police filed a chargesheet before the court.

The court convicted Karthik on Thursday based on the post-mortem report from the forensic medicine department of the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI), the DNA analysis, the report from the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bengaluru, and digital evidence.

The sentence was pronounced on Saturday.