‘Rarest of rare’: Death sentence for trader who killed toddler over rejected proposal

4 min readLucknowUpdated: Jul 10, 2026 06:33 PM IST

The convict, Jitendra Pathak alias Viraj, was arrested in May following an encounter. (Express Photo)

In May, a horrific video of an 18-month-old boy being slammed onto the ground eight times by a man had shaken Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh. The thuds were so loud that residents had initially mistaken it for cement bags being unloaded.

Forty days later, the man, a 28-year-old trader named Jitendra Pathak alias Viraj, was sentenced to death by a Firozabad court Friday, which held that the case fell under “rarest of rare” category. Pathak, the prosecution said, commited the crime as the child’s mother had rejected his marriage proposal.

Pathak was convicted of murder on Thursday. “The court found the case to fall within the ‘rarest of rare’ category and sentenced Pathak to death,” said Rajeev Kumar Upadhyay, District Government Counsel in Firozabad.

During the trial, prosecutors submitted CCTV footage of the incident, which had gone viral on social media, as evidence.

Police said their investigation found that the child’s mother, Rati Sharma (24), had rejected Pathak’s marriage proposal, telling him that she already had a son and would not abandon the child. According to the police, Pathak viewed the boy as an obstacle to the relationship.

On May 30, Pathak lured the child out of the house on the pretext of buying him sweets. Instead, police said, he took the child about 50 metres away to a deserted stretch of road, where he repeatedly slammed him onto the ground.

“We are relieved that the court has sentenced the accused to death for a horrific crime that was captured on camera,” said Rati’s mother Anusuiya Sharma, the complainant in the case.

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“We now want to see the sentence carried out. Our fight will continue until then.”

“I thank the police for completing the investigation swiftly,” she said.

How the crime unfolded

Rati had been living at her parents’ home since January this year due to marital disputes. Around this time, she came in contact with Pathak, who was her husband’s relative, and he began visiting the family regularly.

The prosecution said Pathak later proposed marriage to Rati, but she rejected him and tried to distance herself. But he continued visiting her home, attempting to persuade her to reconsider while promising to support her in her legal dispute with her husband.

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They said Rati had made it clear to Pathak that she would not abandon her son. Her refusal angered him and he began viewing the child as an obstacle.

‘Sounded like cement bags being unloaded’

On the day of the murder, the prosecution said Rati and her mother travelled to Shikohabad to consult a lawyer over her marital dispute. Since their appointment was scheduled for later in the evening, they waited at the home of a family acquaintance, Pushpalata, in Yadav Colony.

The prosecution alleged that Pathak traced their whereabouts and arrived at the house, pressing Rathi to divorce her husband and marry him. She rejected him again.

Pathak then lured the boy and attacked him.

Residents initially mistook the repeated thuds for the sound of cement bags being unloaded nearby. It was a local resident who noticed what was happening on a CCTV feed and rushed outside, police said.

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Police alleged that Pathak then stopped the assault, carried the child back to Pushpalata’s home, and claimed he had been injured in a fall. He left him at the doorstep before fleeing.

The child was later found unresponsive by family members, who informed the police.

Hours later, police arrested Pathak in an encounter, in which he sustained gunshot wounds to both legs, and was taken into custody.

Police had filed the chargesheet in six days.

“We will appeal against the judgment before the higher court,” said the defence lawyer, who asked not to be identified.