Gujarat Man Gets Death Sentence For Stabbing Teen 34 Times

A man accused of murdering a minor girl by stabbing her 34 times, has been sentenced to death by a court in Gujarat's Rajkot. The court of Additional District and Sessions judge RR Chaudhary sentenced Jayesh Sarvaiya, 26, to death for stabbing a Class 11 student 34 times after she refused to enter into a relationship with him.

The man had also injured the girl's brother, who tried to intervene during the attack, which took place in March 2021.

The court held this was a "rarest of the rare case" as per the definition given by the Supreme Court in the Nirbhaya case, said special public prosecutor Janak Patel.

Jayesh Sarvaiya was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

"The court awarded the death sentence and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the accused under Section 302 of the IPC... It was a murder that shook the entire community and hence, was taken seriously," Mr Patel said.

The convict has been given a month's time for an appeal, he said.

The accused and the girl were residents of Jetalsar village in Jetpur. The man had been harassing her, and on March 16, 2021, he went to her house with a proposal.

Angered by her refusal, Sarvaiya thrashed the girl and stabbed her multiple times outside her house when she tried to escape. The shocked locals had demanded that he be given capital punishment, observing bandhs and holding protest marches.