A local court in Odisha's Keonjhar district on Thursday awarded the death penalty to a man for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in the district in 2017.

The Additional District Judge's (ADJ) court sentenced Sunil Nayak to death under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for the rape and murder of the minor girl .

Nayak was found guilty of raping and murdering the minor girl in January 2017. He was awarded death sentence on the basis of the statements of 28 witnesses, according to the Public Prosecutor Ganesh Chandra Mohapatra.

The gruesome incident had occurred under the Champua police station limits on January 13, 2017. After picking up the victim from her home, Nauak raped and killed her at a secluded spot.

Nayak, however, told mediapersons that he would challenge the verdict in the upper court.