Observing that the prosecution did not show that the accused has a “propensity or natural inclination to further commit such offences again and thereby expose the society to danger or threat”, the Aurangabad Bombay High Court has commuted the death sentence of a 36-year-old man to 25 years in prison, who was convicted raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in 2021.
Not a case of "Planned act"
A division bench of Justices Vibha Kankawadi and Abhay Waghwase, on Friday, commuted the death sentence of a Nanded resident observing that no doubt that the act of the man was “brutal”, but it was not a case of “planned act”.
“Finding the child sitting alone that day, he seems to have taken her to a remote place. His background shows that his wife has left his company and at the time of the incident, he was 35 years of age and admittedly had no criminal record till then,” the HC noted.
Hopes of reformation
The bench said that, on the contrary, his post-conviction behaviour inside the prison has kept the hopes of reformation alive.
The court has however clarified that he was not entitled to be enlarged after 14 years of imprisonment as the “gravity of the offence is also definitely enormous” and there was a “betrayal of trust reposed by the small child who addressed him as her uncle”.
The HC was hearing the State’s confirmation petition and the convict’s appeal challenging the March 2021 judgment of the special court at Bhokar, Nanded, sending him to the gallows.
In a detailed 102-page judgment, the court has said, “Afternoon of 20.01.2021 turned out to be the darkest of all times and also the last for the little soul…Unmindful of the outrageous and perverse intentions of her so-called ‘uncle’, she innocently took a last run to be in his company.”
According to the prosecution, this is a “classic illustration of how blatant and patent breach of trust can be committed by a person who is like a guardian to the child”.
As per the FIR, on the date of the incident, the girl’s parents and her grandmother had gone to work in their field. The man was engaged by the family for herding buffaloes on a yearly basis and was well acquainted with the family, including the six-year-old victim.
The girl accompanied her parents to the field and the man was grazing buffaloes nearby. In the afternoon, the girl was returning home. On seeing the man, she ran towards him. Till that time, the girl and the man were within sight of the parents.
Later, when the girl’s father saw the buffaloes entering the field, he called the man, but neither he nor the girl were seen.
The family and the villagers started searching for the girl. During the twilight time, they came across the girl’s footwear and frock and on further search, they came across the “ghastly scene”. They found the naked body of the child with several injuries, and the accused was also spotted nearby. After he was questioned, he confessed to raping and killing the child. He was then handed over to the police.
"Most unfortunate and grave offences"
“Though this is one of the most unfortunate and grave offences, equally not a crime which gravitates only and only death penalty by holding it to be falling in the “rarest of the rare” category,” the bench observed while setting aside his death sentence and commuting it to non-remittable 25-year sentence.
