A Mahila court in Chengalpet, Tamil Nadu on Monday convicted 23-year-old IT professional S Dhasvanth for raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl in February 2017, The News Minute reported. The court sentenced him to death.

The child was last seen playing inside her apartment building in Chennai before she went missing on February 6, 2017. Dhasvanth had burnt the child’s body and left it on a highway after killing her. The police had arrested Dhasvanth, who lived in the same complex, a few days later after he lied about being at a function when the girl went missing, The Times of India reported.

As the police did not file the chargesheet within the stipulated 90 days, Dhasvanth was out on statutory bail in September 2017.

Dhasvanth was found guilty on all charges including those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act.

On December 2, Dhasvanth allegedly killed his mother at their home and fled with her jewellery. Four days later, the police caught him in Mumbai. He managed to escape but was re-arrested a day later. Dhasvanth then confessed to killing his mother and said he had planned to kill his father too.

The court began Dhasvanth’s trial in December 2017. On the first day, he asked the judge to discontinue the trial as he had confessing to the crime in a letter. The bench turned down his request, saying he “could not play with the courts.”