Patna, Feb 24 : A special POCSO court in Bihar's Jamui district on Saturday awarded life sentence to a person convicted of rape and murder of a 2-year-old toddler.

Special judge of the POCSO court, Direndra Bahadur Singh, also imposed a penalty of Rs 25,000 on Ranjit Manjhi, the convict.

The court further directed the state government to provide Rs 5 lakh to the victim's family as compensation.

Ranjit Manjhi, a rag-picker, had kidnapped the two-year-old girl from outside her home in Jamui city on May 21, 2023. He then took her to an isolated place and sexually assaulted the toddler. After committing the crime, Ranjit strangled the victim to death and dumped her body at a bus stand in Jamui city.

'During the hearing of the case, the district police produced strong evidence, including CCTV footage from the bus stand, the accused's confessional statement, post-mortem report, and forensic and scientific findings before the court,' said Manoj Verma, the special public prosecutor in the case.

Verma said that on the basis of strong evidence, the court found Manjhi guilty under IPC Sections of 302 and 201, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

'The accused will stay behind the bars till his last breath,' Verma said.

/IANS