Mysuru: A Mysuru Fast Track Special Court on Saturday sentenced 32-year-old Karthik alias Garadi to death under the Pocso Act , for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in 2025. Child rights activists welcomed the verdict, noting that the case was decided within a year.
Kartik was subsequently arrested, within 15 hours of the crime being committed, from a bar in Kollegala, in neighbouring Chamarajanagar district, around 65 km from Mysuru. Special Court judge Anand P Hogade sentenced Karthik to death under Section 6 of the Pocso Act, 2012, and Section 103 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Pronouncing the order in open court, the judge directed that Karthik be hanged by the neck until dead, as prescribed under Section 393(5) of BNSS, 2023
The crime occurred on Oct 9, 2025, a week after Dasara festivities ended. Investigators said Karthik, a bus cleaner, had followed the family from around 9 pm the previous night and interacted with the child. At around 3.21 am, he allegedly abducted her from the tent, carried her about 100 feet away and sexually assaulted her The crime came to light in the morning when the girl’s father realised she was missing. The court ordered compensation of Rs 13.5 lakh to the victim’s family under the National Legal Services Authority scheme.
Special public prosecutor (SPP) KB Jayanthi said the prosecution sought the death penalty arguing that the crime fell under the “rarest of rare” category, citing the victim’s age, the brutality of the assault and the 27 stab and cut injuries inflicted on the child. The judge also directed that the entire proceedings be submitted to Karnataka high court “forthwith” for confirmation of the death sentence. The victim belonged to a nomadic family that had travelled from Kalaburagi to Mysuru for Dasara. They sold balloons and other trinkets. The six-member family lived in a makeshift tent on the footpath along Manasara Road, within the Nazarbad police limits. After a brief search, he found her body.