Gawalior/Katni, July 27 : Two persons were sentenced to death by trial courts in Madhya Pradesh in separate cases of rape of children below the age of 12, a lawyer said. The trial lasted for only five and 13 days in the two cases.

Lawyer Somvir Yadav, who represented a victim in one of the cases, told the media in Gawalior that a city court had convicted Jitendra Khushwaha for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl who had gone missing from a wedding function in Amkho area on June 20. Her body was found the next day in Kensar Pahadia area.

The trial of the case in the fast-track court of Special Judge Sangeeta Singh was concluded in 13 days through videoconferencing. The trial had concluded on Tuesday, during which 33 witnesses were examined. DNA proof nailed the convict.

Katni Additional District and Sessions Judge Madhuri Raj Lal convicted auto-rickshaw driver Raj Kumar Kol and handed him a death sentence after a trial that concluded in five days.

Additional District Attorney D.D. Taran told the media that Raj Kumar had sexually assaulted the five-year-old child whom he used to drop at school.

He was booked after the child's father lodged an FIR on July 7.

In December, 2017, the Madhya Pradesh Assembly had unanimously passed a bill to amend the Indian Penal Code to enable awarding of death penalty to those found guilty of raping girls aged 12 and below.

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New Delhi, Sep 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said 90 per cent of small investors have lost Rs 1.8 lakh crore in Futures and Option (F&O) trading in three years and asked the SEBI to reveal the names of the "so called big players" profiteering at their expense.

More than 91 per cent, or 73 lakh, individual traders lost money in the F&O segment in FY24 with an average net loss of Rs 1.2 lakh per person, a study conducted by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revealed on Monday.

Further, 93 per cent of over 1 crore individual F&O traders incurred average losses of about Rs 2 lakh per trader (inclusive of transaction costs) during the three years from FY22 to FY24. The aggregate losses of such traders exceeded Rs 1.8 lakh crore during the period.

Gandhi, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on X, "Uncontrolled F&O trading has grown 45X in 5 years. 90% of small investors have lost ₹1.8 lakh Cr in 3 years."

"SEBI must reveal the names of the so called 'Big Players' making a killing at their expense," the former Congress chief said.

The study said in FY24 alone, individuals incurred about Rs 75,000 crore in net losses.

It found the top 3.5 per cent of loss-makers -- about 4 lakh traders -- faced an average loss of Rs 28 lakh per person over the same period, inclusive of transaction costs.

On the other hand, only 7.2 per cent of individual F&O traders made a profit over the period of three years and only 1 per cent of individual traders managed to earn profits exceeding Rs 1 lakh, after adjusting for transaction costs.

Moreover, the number of retail traders, or individual traders, has almost doubled in two years to about 96 lakh in FY24 from about 51 lakh in FY22.

Although such investors contributed about 30 per cent to the total turnover in FY24, they are a clear majority in number terms, as 99.8 per cent of total traders in the equity F&O segment are individuals.

"The availability of sophisticated trading platforms and lower transaction costs have enabled retail investors to actively trade in options and futures contracts, contributing to the surge in market liquidity," SEBI said.

The regulator said rapid growth in F&O trading activity has highlighted the need for investor education and risk management practices, as a significant proportion of retail traders continued to incur losses in the market.