Death sentence of man convicted for rape and murder of 7-year-old girl commuted to 50 years of imprisonment in Palwal

July 9, 2026

The High Court has commuted the death sentence of the convict, who raped and murdered an innocent girl just 17 days shy of her seventh birthday to 50 years of actual imprisonment without remission.

Background of Case

On May 24, 2021, in Palwal, Anand Singh lured the girl (who was under seven years of age) away after her parents had left for work. He took her to the fields, raped her, strangled her to death, and hid her body in a pit. A Palwal trial court had convicted Anand Singh and sentenced him to death; he subsequently filed an appeal against this verdict in the High Court.

The Court fully upheld his conviction for the offenses of rape, murder, kidnapping, and destruction of evidence. It also made strong observations regarding the fabrication of documents during the police investigation, the gross negligence of the public prosecutor, and the failures of the trial court. Commenting significantly on the role of the trial court, the Court remarked that every trial is like a ship that must reach the shore, and when navigating rough waters, the trial judge should be the last person to abandon the ship.

The Division Bench termed the failure to have the victim’s clothes identified a major lapse on the part of both the public prosecutor and the trial court. The Court stated that this was a failure not of the investigating agency, but of the prosecution and the trial judges involved.

The Court observed that a judge’s fundamental duty is to ensure justice so that no innocent person is punished and no guilty person escapes. While upholding the conviction, the Court commuted the death sentence to 50 years of actual life imprisonment without remission. Additionally, it imposed fines of ₹50 lakh for the murder and ₹23 lakh for the POCSO offense; upon recovery, these amounts are to be paid to the victim’s family as compensation.