Bombay HC commutes death sentence of man convicted of killing minor girl

08 Feb 2022, 5:41 pm

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside the death penalty awarded to a man convicted of sexually assaulting and killing a minor girl and sentenced him to life imprisonment. A division bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and P K Chavan cited that the case did not fall in the rarest of rare category and the convict was not a hardened criminal and could be reformed, rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society. The court passed its judgment on the Maharashtra government's appeal seeking confirmation of the death penalty awarded to 23-year-old Mohammad Aabed Shaikh.

Justices Sadhana Jadhav

The court, in its order, noted that there was no evidence of sexual assault in the case and that the convict had suddenly thought of seeking vengeance for the humiliation that he had faced after being slapped by the victim's father for not repaying a loan. The bench quashed Shaikh's conviction on the charges of rape under the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, but said the conviction on the murder charge needs to be maintained. As per the case details, on April 4, 2018, the victim's body was found in a decomposed state in the thorny bushes on an open land used by the locals to defecate.

Justice Prithviraj K Chavan

The victim had gone missing from her house in Bhiwandi town of neighbouring Thane district on April 2. The court noted that for parents, the loss of a child is a psychological loss that creates a vacuum within. "The death of the child was a harsh blow not only to the parents, but to the society as a whole," the order said. The police on April 6, 2018 arrested Shaikh, who was employed in a nearby weaving mill. The police claimed that Shaikh had confessed to his co-worker about committing the alleged offence.

According to the prosecution. 

Shaikh had harboured ill-feelings towards the victim's father, who had allegedly slapped him once for not returning his money. The court observed that while the act committed by the convict was brutal and deserves no lenience, the mitigating circumstances also need to be considered as far as the accused was concerned. "Although the offence is barbaric and heinous, what falls for consideration is whether death penalty is the only punishment that needs to be imposed. The State has failed to bring before us any material to show that there is no scope for reformation or rehabilitation," the bench said.

"It is a settled cardinal principle that it is not just the crime which the Court should take into consideration, but also the criminal, the state of his mind and his socio-economic background," it said. "The accused is a young man. At the time of the commission of the offence, the accused was hardly 20 years of age. Satisfaction of personal vendetta had overpowered him momentarily and in that moment of deprivation of self-control, he had committed the offence," the order said.

Source: 

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/mumbai/2022/Feb/08/bombay-hc-commutes-death-sentence-of-man-convicted-of-killing-minor-girl-2416989.html