Man gets life for killing girl to frame aunt for property

Agra: A Hathras court has sentenced a 40-year-old man to life imprisonment for murdering an 8-year-old girl in Saadabad town to frame his aunt in a property dispute. Bhavna went missing on April 19, 2018, after being last seen going to the house of Vinod Kumar.
Police found that Kumar lured Bhavna to his house on the pretext of giving her something to eat.When she did not return, her family began searching and later reported her disappearance to the police. "We launched an extensive search operation and found blood stains leading to the terrace of his aunt Sushila Devi's house. Further investigation led to the discovery of Bhavna's burnt body stuffed inside a sack," an officer investigating the case said.
A case was registered at Saadabad police station, and her body was sent for postmortem. Days later, police detained Kumar for questioning. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime. "He had a dispute over property with Sushila. His plan was to frame her in a false case so that he could claim the property," additional district govt counsel Mukesh Kumar said.
Kumar was arrested and charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), and 326-A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by acid). He was sent to jail but secured bail after four years. However, months later, a warrant was issued against him, leading to his re-arrest.
The fast-track court of additional sessions judge Madhavi Singh found Kumar guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment on Saturday. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on him, with an additional sentence if unpaid. "After the judgment, the accused was immediately sent to jail," the ADGC said.