A special court in Mysuru has sentenced 32-year-old Karthik to death for the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl who was visiting the city with her family during the 2025 Dasara festival, in a case that exposed the vulnerability of informal workers and temporary settlements around major public events.
Special Judge Anand P Hogade of the Fast Track Special Court-I, which hears cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, delivered the sentence on Saturday. The court had convicted Karthik on October 15. Special Public Prosecutor K B Jayanthi represented the state.
The prosecution relied on witness testimony, documentary evidence and forensic evidence to argue that the offence fell within the “rarest of rare” category and warranted the death penalty. The chargesheet cited 83 witnesses.
The offence took place in the early hours of October 9, 2025, when the girl was sleeping with her family in a makeshift shelter near Doddakere Maidan, close to Mysuru Palace and the Dasara Exhibition Grounds. The family had travelled from Kalaburagi to Mysuru to sell balloons, toys and other items during the festival.
According to the prosecution, Karthik abducted the child from the shelter, sexually assaulted and murdered her, and fled. Her father noticed that she was missing in the morning and later found her body near the shelter. The Nazarbad police registered a case and arrested Karthik in Kollegal, in Chamarajanagar district, within 24 hours.
Police said Karthik attempted to escape while being taken for further questioning and was shot in the leg. Two police personnel were reportedly injured during the incident.
Karthik, a resident of Siddalingapura on the outskirts of Mysuru, worked as a cleaner on a private bus operating on the Mysuru-Kollegal route. The prosecution also referred to his prior conviction in a 2019 case involving sexual harassment and an attempt to murder a woman in Kollegal. He had been sentenced to four years in prison but later received bail after challenging the conviction in the High Court.
The case drew widespread outrage across Karnataka and renewed calls for swift action in sexual-offence cases involving children. The court’s sentence follows the earlier conviction and the prosecution’s submission that the evidence and circumstances met the legal threshold for the “rarest of rare” category.
