The Punjab and Haryana High Court has changed a death sentence to life imprisonment for Virender alias Bholu, convicted of raping and killing a five-and-a-half-year-old girl in 2018. The court sentenced him to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment without remission and raised the fine to ₹30 lakh. The bench of Justices Anoop Chitkara and Sukhvinder Kaur said the murder followed a panic to destroy rape evidence and was not planned. They said, "The convict's life should not be taken away by the judicial process." The court noted no proof showed the convict was beyond reformation and stated, "To save children and females, he can be kept in custody for the longest permissible time." The High Court acquitted Kamla Devi, the convict’s mother, of all charges. The judges observed she was protecting her "Raja beta" due to deep-rooted social attitudes and blind love for sons. "Kamla Devi's only fault is that she was trying to protect her Raja-beta, for which she cannot be punished under the Indian Penal Code," the court said. The court highlighted that while the death penalty might deter some crimes, it is unscientific to consider it the only solution. It urged a balanced approach considering the crime, victim, criminal, family, society, and state. The crime happened in May 2018, when Virender, who worked for the girl’s father, took the child to his home, raped her, and killed her with a kitchen knife. He hid her body in a flour container while his mother was not at home. The trial court sentenced Virender to death in 2020 and gave Kamla Devi imprisonment for conspiracy and evidence destruction. The High Court’s December 23 verdict overturned her conviction and changed Virender’s sentence to life imprisonment.