'Rarest Of Rare' Case: MP High Court Upholds Death Sentence For Man Who Raped And Murdered 5-Year-Old Girl In Bhopal
A division bench of the HC said medical evidence proved that the girl was raped and that her private parts were attacked with sharp weapon.
Published : January 23, 2026 at 11:00 AM IST
Jabalpur/Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Thursday upheld the death penalty awarded by a trial court to a rape accused, saying the crime crossed all limits of brutality and fell under the "rarest of the rare" category. The court also upheld two-year jail terms for his mother and sister on charges of concealing evidence.
According to the government counsel, the accused Atul Nihale, a resident of Shahjahanabad in Bhopal, had in September 2024 allegedly raped a five-year-old girl, stabbed her in her private parts, and then murdered her.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Raj Kumar Choubey said medical evidence clearly proved that the girl was raped and that her private parts were attacked with a sharp weapon, and the same was confirmed by the post mortem report.
The accused had earlier challenged the death sentence awarded by a trial court in Bhopal. As per law, the trial court sent the case to the High Court for confirmation of the capital punishment.
During the hearing on Thursday, the public prosecutor said the girl went missing on September 24, 2024, after stepping out of her uncle's flat in Shahjahanabad area to play with her friends. She had told her grandmother that she would return in 15 minutes, but when she did not come back, her family members began searching and later informed the police. Subsequently, police launched an investigation using technical surveillance and a dog squad was also roped in.
During the search, police grew suspicious of a nearby flat of the accused, from where a foul smell was coming. When the team entered the flat, accused Atul's mother and sister Basanti Bai and Chanchal claimed that the smell was due to dead rats and said they had cleaned the floor with phenyl. When police continued searching, the duo tried to stop them and began shouting. With the help of the dog squad, it was discovered that the smell was coming from a plastic water tank. As soon as the police team opened it, the body of minor girl was discovered.
During the hearing, the high court was apprised that doctors had confirmed that the girl had been brutally raped. Her private parts were severely injured, as if attacked with a sharp object. The police then interrogated the accused, Atul Nihale, and his mother and sister, after which the victim's clothes and the knife used in the crime were recovered. After intense questioning, accused Atul Nihale confessed to the crime and told the police that his mother and sister had helped him conceal it.
The trial court had sentenced the accused to death under various sections of the law, which was upheld on Thursday by the principal bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in Jabalpur. His mother and sister were also sentenced to two years of imprisonment each for concealing evidence.
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