Ranchi, Sep 9 (IANS): The Jharkhand High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence for Rahul Raj, also known as Rocky Raj, in the brutal case of rape and murder of a B. Tech student in Ranchi.

The CBI court had initially sentenced Raj to death for the brutal crime, which included the rape, strangulation, and burning of the victim's body.

The state government had appealed for the confirmation of the death sentence, while the convict Raj had sought to overturn the lower court’s decision.

The incident, referred to as the 'Nirbhaya case of Ranchi', occurred on the night of December 15-16, 2016. The 19-year-old B. Tech student from RTC Institute was living with her sister in Booti Basti, Ranchi. On December 15, she returned home from college at around 6 p.m. and was alone in the house.

Rahul Raj, who had been stalking her throughout the day, managed to break into her home around 4 a.m. on December 16. He raped her and then strangled her with a wire. When she lost consciousness, he removed her clothes, doused her in kerosene, and set her on fire. He also set her clothes ablaze in another room before fleeing the scene.

The brutal nature of the crime sparked widespread outrage and protests in Ranchi. The investigation was later transferred to the CBI, which interviewed approximately 300 people and traced Raj through mobile call records.

Raj, a resident of Nalanda, was identified as a repeat offender with previous rape cases in Patna and Lucknow lodged against him. The CBI discovered that he was in a Lucknow jail in another rape case. A DNA test confirmed his involvement, matching samples from his mother with evidence from the crime scene.

Raj was transported to Ranchi from Lucknow under a production warrant and subsequently charged by the CBI. On December 20, 2019, the CBI court convicted him, classifying the case as one of the "rarest of rare" and sentencing him to death the following day.