India, June 11 -- The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal of two convicts challenging the life imprisonment handed down by courts below for kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl in 2019 on the pretext of taking her to a picnic.

A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Manmohan on Tuesday rejected the appeal of convicts Sanjay Paikra and Pustam Yadav against the Chhattisgarh High Court verdict.

The high court on August 5, 2024, upheld the trial court's judgement convicting Paikra, Yadav and third accused Santosh Kumar Gupta, the school van driver, in the sensational kidnapping and rape case under various provisons of the IPC and the POCSO Act (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) for offences of kidnaping a...