Punjab and Haryana High Court Says 2018 Rape-Murder Convict’s Behavior ‘Monstrous’, Upholds Death Penalty Chandigarh News

Finding the conduct of a man convicted of raping and “horrific” murder of a three-year-old girl in 2018 to be “monstrous”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the trial court’s order and confirmed the death sentence. of the guilty.

The joint bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudipti Sharma passed the order while hearing the appeal filed by the accused (appellant) against the trial court’s verdict (which awarded the death sentence last February). The Haryana government had filed a petition to confirm the death sentence.

A fast-track court in Gurugram had sentenced the convict to death in February 2024 for offenses under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act.

Case in point, in 2018, a body of a little girl was found in Sector 65 of Gurugram. In the statement given to the police by the father of the victim girl, who is a daily wage earner, the accused has alleged that the accused took his three-year-old daughter with him by luring her to buy food from the shop. The complainant (victim’s father) searched for his missing daughter, but to no avail. The next day, he found out that his daughter was found naked and dead. He has alleged in the complaint that the accused raped and killed his daughter. An FIR was registered in Gurugram. The trial court then convicted the accused and sentenced him to death.

In the High Court, the counsel for the accused (appellant) argued that his client was implicated in the instant case by the complainant and his wife to settle old scores. Also, he argued that since the entire case of the prosecution was based on circumstantial evidence, it was not proved by the prosecution. The appellant has been illegally and arbitrarily sentenced to death, the learned Court concerned has failed to consider that the instant case does not fall within the ambit of “rarest of rare cases”, counsel further argued.

However, the state counsel contended that no interference with the order of the trial court was necessary and that the appeal against the conviction should be dismissed. Pradeep Prakash Chahar, Senior Deputy Advocate General, Haryana, appeared on behalf of the State.

After hearing the arguments and perusing the documents and evidence adduced before the trial court, the High Court concluded, “The instant case relates to the felony murder of the girl but after raping her. This exemplifies the monstrous conduct of the accused-appellant apart from inhumanity… by the court convicting the accused-appellant. The sentence of death is hereby affirmed. . . .

“The District Magistrate has been instructed to immediately appoint the executioner based on the relevant provisions, and the accused appellant has also been instructed to make a schedule of death penalty,” the High Court ordered.

Leave a Comment