INDIA: DEATH FOR RAPE, MURDER ACCUSED

a Sessions court in Ashoknagar, India, awarded capital punishment to a rape and murder accused as well as imposing a Rs 50,000 fine. Additional Sessions Judge P C Sharma handed down the sentence to Iqbal alias Ikku. ''The Shadora village-resident targeted a woman of the village on August 4, 2006 and even took away her jewellery,'' said Superintendent of Police Raman Singh Sikarwar. The victim's eight year old daughter, returning from school, witnessed Iqbal running away, police said. Earlier, Iqbal was accused of violating the National Security Act and indulging in unnatural sex.