A special court in Surat on Thursday awarded death sentence to a 24-year-old man convicted for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in the Pandesara area in 2020 under the Protection of Children for Sexual Offenses (POSCO) Act.

Earlier, the Surat city police had filed the chargesheet in a record time of 13 days, following which the court ordered, Dinesh Dashrath Besane, the convict, to pay Rs 15 lakh as compensation to the victim's family.