In a brutal 2013 case involving the rape and murder of a 2.5-year-old girl in Kolkata, Suresh Paswan was convicted under Sections 364, 376A, and 302 of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The City Sessions Court sentenced him to death. The prosecution relied on strong circumstantial evidence, including witness testimony, CCTV footage, and recovery of the victim’s clothes at the accused’s instance. The defense argued inconsistencies in testimonies and lack of direct evidence of rape. The Calcutta High Court upheld the conviction, finding the circumstantial chain complete and credible. However, it commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment without remission for 50 years, citing the "rarest of rare" doctrine from Bachan Singh and Machhi Singh. The Court considered mitigating factors like the accused’s impoverished background, absence of premeditation, and psychological report indicating mild mental disability, concluding the death penalty was not warranted.