Rajkot, Mar 13: A court in Gujarat's Rajkot district on Monday sentenced to death a man accused of brutally killing a minor girl by stabbing her 34 times for rejecting his proposal.

The court of additional district and sessions judge R R Chaudhary at Jetpur sentenced to death Jayesh Sarvaiya (26) for stabbing a Class 11 student 34 times for refusing to enter into a relationship with him.

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

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

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 kind of murder that shook the entire community and hence, was taken seriously," Patel said.

The convict has been given a month's time to make an appeal in the high court, he said.

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

Angered by her refusal, Sarvaiya thrashed the victim and stabbed her multiple times outside her house when she tried to escape.

Shocked by the brutality of the killing, locals had demanded that the accused be given capital punishment and even observed a bandh and took out a protest march.

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Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.

The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.

A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.

Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.

In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.

Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.

The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.

The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.