Chandigarh, Dec. 23 -- A local court has convicted a migrant from Bihar for the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl in Burail village in 2022, sentencing him to life imprisonment. The convict, Mohammad Sakir, who was 25 at the time of the incident and worked as a food delivery agent, was found guilty of the brutal crime that took place while the victim was alone at her residence. The case dates back to November 20, 2022, when the Chandigarh Police received information regarding a deceased girl, aged between 18 and 19, at the civil hospital in Sector 45. Following the report, police personnel recorded the statement of the victim's mother after completing the necessary legal formalities. The victim's family, migrants from Uttar Pradesh, resided in a rented accommodation in Village Burail. The mother informed the police that she had two children: a son in Class 6 and a daughter, aged about 18-and-a-half, who was pursuing her Class 12 through an open board and generally remained at home. According to the mother's statement, on November 19, 2022, at approximately 7:30 am, she dropped her son at school and proceeded to work, leaving her daughter alone. Upon returning home around 3:00 PM, she found the door to their room open. Her daughter was lying unconscious on the bed with her hair untied. When the girl did not respond to calls, the mother panicked and alerted her landlord. With the assistance of another tenant, the girl was shifted to the hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Physical examination of the body revealed scratch marks and bleeding from her right ear, where she had been wearing earrings. The mother immediately suspected Mohammad Sakir, who had previously lived in a front room as a tenant but had moved out about a month and a half prior to the incident. She stated that Sakir had frequently tried to meet her daughter, despite being scolded and warned to stay away. Investigation revealed that Sakir had lived in the neighbourhood for nearly two years. Despite the mother's interventions, he allegedly continued to attempt contact with the victim. On the day of the incident, CCTV footage confirmed that Sakir entered the victim's room around 9:30 am and remained there for approximately one hour. During the investigation, a Mobile Forensic Team was summoned to the site. They seized several items, including the bedsheet, pillow covers, and blood-stained gauze. A postmortem was conducted, and the accused was arrested on November 20, 2022. A challan was subsequently presented against him after witness statements were recorded. During the trial and bail hearings, Sakir maintained his innocence, alleging that he was being falsely implicated without direct evidence. He argued that medical examinations of the deceased did not attribute direct injuries to him and claimed that the room appeared clean in photographs, suggesting no signs of violence or struggle. He further contended that no neighbours reported hearing any cries or noises from the room. Initially, the FIR was registered under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). However, following a report from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Section 376(1) (rape) was added. The CFSL report confirmed the presence of human semen in the swabs, smear slides, and clothes of the deceased, which was found to be consistent with the DNA profile of the accused. Section 449 (house trespass to commit offence punishable with death) was also included in the charges. While the detailed judgment is yet to be fully uploaded, the court has sentenced Sakir to life imprisonment for the offences under Sections 302 and 449 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Additionally, he received 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for the offence under Section 376(1) and was ordered to pay a fine of Rs.50,000....