New Delhi: Expressing grave concern over increasing incidence of rape and killing of young girls, the Supreme Court Friday confirmed death sentence to a former Pune school teacher for raping and killing a 9-year-old girl.

A bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice M.K. Sharma confirmed the death sentence of Shivaji alias Dadya Shankar Alhat, a double graduate in arts and education, awarded by the Pune additional sessions judge court and endorsed by Bombay High Court in May 2004.

Shivaji, a married man and the father of three children, had in January 2002 taken his maidservant's daughter - of the same age as that of his own daughter - to Manmodya hills in Pune and killed her after raping her.

"A large number of cases, involving rape and murder of young girls, coming in recent times before this Court, is a matter of concern," said the bench, while expressing concern over the increasing instances of rape and killing of young girls.

"In the instant case, the victim was about nine years of age who had fallen prey to the animal lust of the accused (Shivaji); she was not only raped but was murdered by the accused appellant," the bench observed.

Terming Shivaji's crime as "rarest of rare", the bench confirmed his death sentence despite the fact that he had been found guilty of rape and murder on the basis of circumstantial evidence and there being no eye witness to his crime.

Dismissing the defence plea that death sentence cannot be awarded to a person convicted on the basis of circumstantial evidence, the bench ruled: "The plea that in a case of circumstantial evidence death should not be awarded is without any logic."

"In most of the cases where death sentence are awarded for rape and murder, there is practically no scope for having an eye witness. They are not committed in the public view. But the very nature of things in such cases, the available evidence is circumstantial evidence," reasoned the bench, while according death sentence to Shivaji.

"If the circumstantial evidence is found to be of unimpeachable character in establishing the guilt of the accused, the same evidence cannot be said to be so weak that death sentence cannot be awarded to a convict," said the bench.