Thursday, May 31, 2012

Man sentenced to death for rape and murder

The Mavelikara Additional District and Sessions Court-II on Thursday sentenced to death Viswarajan, 22, of Oachira who was found guilty of the rape and murder of a 34-year-old widow and the mother of a teenaged girl. Pronouncing the sentence, the Judge A.Badarudheen said the court was awarding death penalty as it was the ‘rarest of rare cases.' The Court also asked the accused, Viswarajan, alias ‘Karumadi' of Santhosh Bhavan in Vayanakam in Oachira to pay a penalty of Rs.1 lakh to the victim's daughter. If the convicted person failed to pay the penalty, he would have to undergo additional Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) of six months. Special Public Prosecutor S. Remanan Pillai said Viswarajan had also been sentenced to six months Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) under Section 342 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (wrongful confinement) and five years RI under Section 376 read with 511 (attempt to rape). The sentences will, however, run concurrently. Habitual offender The judge observed that the accused was a habitual offender and was a threat to the community. Mr. Pillai said the accused had two charges of rape and assault against him in the Ochira police station pending trial and another case of abducting a minor girl and sexually exploiting her. The death sentence was based on ‘circumstantial evidence,' he said. A large crowd of people were present when the verdict was pronounced at 11 a.m. The accused was brought out of the court nearly three hours later, at 2 p.m., and taken in a police vehicle to Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail at Poojapura. A heavy deployment of police under Kayamkulam Deputy Superintendent of Police S. Devamanohar, who also supervised the investigation, was present at the court. The incident occurred at 7 p.m. on October 24, 2011 when the victim was returning home. The accused who was hiding in the dark grabbed the victim and beat her unconscious before sexually assaulting her. He later pushed her into a paddy field. The police and local people rushed her to a hospital. However, she died while being shifted to the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital. The investigation was led by Kayamkulam Circle Inspector A.N.Shanihan, who submitted the report to the court.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article3477458.ece

Sunday, May 6, 2012

‘Lack of territorial jurisdiction’ cited for refusal to execute Rajoana’s death sentence.

Chandigarh, Sun May 06 2012, 00:22 hrs Lakhwinder Singh Jakhar, Superintendent, Central Jail, Patiala, who had been issued contempt notices by a local court for refusing to execute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, has cited lack of territorial jurisdiction for refusing to execute the sentence. In his reply filed on April 25, Jakhar stated that he acted bona fide and without any contempt towards the court. He also said Rajoana could not be hanged at that stage, because the death sentence of his accomplice Jagtar Singh Hawara had been commuted to life imprisonment by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and his (Hawara) appeal was pending before the Supreme Court. A S Grewal, Additional Advocate General, Punjab, and counsel for the Jail Superintendent, said the Supreme Court judgement placed the onus on the Jail Superintendent to report such cases to higher authorities. The judgement avoided injustice where death sentences awarded to two accused for the same crime was commuted to life imprisonment for one and executed in the case of the other, he explained. Rajoana had earlier refused to file a mercy petition before the President of India, and his mercy petition was filed by the Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee under Article 72 of the Constitution of India. The execution was stayed till the final order of the Apex Court in the appeals of his co-accused or till the order of the President of India, whichever was later. Rajoana was awarded death sentence by a CBI special court in July 2007, in the former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassination case. On March 19, Jakhar had received a communique from the court of Shalini Nagpal that Rajoana be executed on March 31. In his communique to the judge, Jakhar expressed his inability to execute the sentence on account of “legal infirmities in procedure”. The court had issued notice to Jakhar on March 27, asking him to explain why proceedings under the Contempt of Court Act should not be initiated against him. The case will now come up for hearing on June 6. Source: Indian Express See http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lack-of-territorial-jurisdiction-cited-for-refusal-to-execute-rajoanas-death-sentence./945904/0 [accessed on 7th May 2012]

Contempt proceedings against jail official adjourned

HT Correspondent , Hindustan Times Chandigarh, May 05, 2012 A Chandigarh court on Saturday adjourned the hearing in the contempt of court proceedings against Patiala jail superintendent Lakhwinder Singh Jakhar to June 6. The court of additional district and sessions judge Shalini Nagpal adjourned the hearing for arguments on the reply filed by Jakhar, saying "the court will take up the case on June 6 as there are a lot of other cases to be heard". Jakhar, in his reply before the court on April 25, had tendered an unconditional apology for refusing to execute Beant Singh assassination convict Balwant Singh Rajoana. The court had issued a contempt of court notice to Jakhar for returning the death warrants. "The superintendent, Patiala jail, has not once, but on two occasions, refused to execute the warrants of death sentence by way of written communication on March 19 and March 24. By doing this, he had intended to interfere with the due course of judicial proceedings, obstruct the administration of justice and also lower the authority of the court," the court had observed. Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Punjab/Patiala/Contempt-proceedings-against-jail-official-adjourned/SP-Article1-851309.aspx [accessed on 7th May 2012]

Friday, May 4, 2012

Death sentence for beheading girl on campus

Press Trust of India | Updated: May 02, 2012 11:47 IST Ranchi: A youth was today sentenced to death by a local court for beheading a girl student in a college campus in Ranchi on April 28 last year. The District and Sessions Court of SH Kazmi pronounced the capital punishment against Vijendra Kumar for severing the head off of intermediate student Khusboo outside an examination hall. The court had on April 26 convicted Kumar for the crime. Kumar, who hails from Jamshedpur, had beheaded Khusboo with a sharp weapon as soon as she came out of the examination hall. He was overpowered by other students and handed over to the Jharkhand police. Source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/youth-gets-death-sentence-for-beheading-girl-205137 [accessed on 4th May 2012]