Andhra Pradesh - Man awarded capital punishment for murdering minor girl in Andhra

PTI Updated: April 01, 2025 20:38 IST

Anakapalli (Andhra Pradesh), Apr 1 (PTI) The Chodavaram court in Anakapalli district on Tuesday sentenced a 31-year-old man to death for the brutal murder of a seven-year-old girl from Devarapalli. The judgment was announced by the 9th Additional District Judge K Ratna Kumar.

In 2015, G Shekhar Subhachari, with a history of petty offenses and family disputes, horrified the community by cutting the young girl’s throat with a beer bottle, sparking a lengthy investigation. "The court convicted the accused, sentencing him to death and imposing a Rs 10,000 fine, with Rs 9,000 to be paid to the victim’s mother," said Additional Public Prosecutor U Venkata Rao.

The court recommended the District Legal Services Authority provide additional compensation to the victim’s family and sent proceedings to the Andhra Pradesh High Court for death sentence confirmation.

"This verdict will raise awareness on child offenses. The investigation team did a great job, and the judge’s decision led to the death penalty," said Shravani, DSP, Ankapalli district.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)

Source: https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2025/04/01/lgm3-ap-court-capital-punishment.html

West Bengal - Jalpaiguri man sentenced to death for killing cousin in 2021

29 March 2025

Summary

A Jalpaiguri court in West Bengal has sentenced a man to death for stabbing his cousin to death in March 2021. The victim, identified as Shankar Das, was attacked by his cousin Suresh Roy at a tea stall in the Shanti Nagar area. During the attack, Roy stabbed Das at least 18 times with a sharp weapon, killing him on the spot in broad daylight. The violence shocked the local community, and after hearing testimony from multiple witnesses over the course of the trial, the court deemed the murder to be among the “rarest of rare” cases and imposed the death penalty on Roy.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/jalpaiguri-man-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-cousin-in-2021/articleshow/119712871.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Ludhiana shocker: Man gets death sentence for rape-murder of 4-yr-old

By Tarsem Singh Deogan

Published on: Mar 28, 2025 09:18 am IST

The court additional session judge (fast track special court under POCSO Act), Ludhaina, has awarded death penalty to a 28-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh for the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl

Sonu Singh, who got death penalty for raping and killing a 4-year-old girl in Ludhiana.

Ludhiana : The court additional session judge (fast track special court under POCSO Act), Ludhaina, has awarded death penalty to a 28-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh for the rape and murder of a four-year-old girl. Additional session judge Amar Jeet Singh found the accused, Sonu Singh, guilty of committing the crime. The court has sentenced the accused to death under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court has also imposed a fine of ₹5.5 lakh on the accused and ordered compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family.

According to the prosecution, the accused, who was known to the victim’s family and was a guest in their neighbourhood, lured the girl with a chocolate and raped her on December 28, 2023. After committing the crime, the accused dumped the victim’s body in a bed box at the house of his relatives and fled.The police had registered a first information report (FIR) a day after the crime (December 29, 2023) at the Daba police station in Ludhiana, when the victim’s body was found. The accused was arrested 20 days later from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh.

In its judgment, the court described the crime as “rarest of rare” and stated that the accused’s actions were depraved and deserved only one sentence — death. The court observed that the victim was an innocent child, and that the crime had shocked the conscience of the society. “The victim was an innocent girl, defence-less and unprotected. The despicable nature of the offense shocks the conscience of the entire society. Even in ordinary criminal terminology, rape is a crime more heinous than murder as it destroys the very soul of a hapless woman. Such criminals are a danger to society and are beyond reformation and rehabilitation,” the court said in its order.The court also noted that the accused had shown no remorse for his actions and tried to justify his crime by claiming that he was under the influence of liquor.

The police had submitted a chargesheet in a court detailing the circumstances of the crime. The chargesheet stated that the accused took away the victim after giving her a chocolate, and then raped and murdered her. The police had also recovered CCTV footage that showed the accused taking the victim away. The autopsy report had confirmed that the victim died due to asphyxia caused by throttling, and that there were signs of forced penetration. The DNA of the accused had also matched with the vaginal swabs of the victim.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/chandigarh-news/ludhiana-shocker-man-gets-death-sentence-for-rape-murder-of-4yrold-101743104350301.html#google_vignette

Supreme Court To Examine Whether Writ Petition Can Be Filed Against Death Penalty Confirmed By It

Mar 27, 2025

PTI

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a writ petition filed by death row convict Vasanta Sampat Dupare, whose sentence was confirmed by the apex court in 2014.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it would examine whether a writ petition could seek the review of its confirmation of death penalty in light of the 2022 verdict asking mitigating circumstances in such cases to be factored in. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a writ petition filed by death row convict Vasanta Sampat Dupare, whose sentence was confirmed by the apex court in 2014.

His review petition against the November 26, 2014 verdict was also dismissed by the apex court on May 3, 2017. He then filed mercy petitions before the Governor and the President, which were also rejected in 2022 and 2023, respectively. In 2017, while dismissing the review petition of Dupare, who had raped and stoned to death a four-year-old girl, the top court called it a case of "extreme depravity". Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for Dupare, said the top court court would have to examine the question whether the 2022 verdict, which said mitigating circumstances have to be considered by trial courts in death row cases, would apply in this matter or not.

Advocate general of Maharashtra, however, said the convict couldn't file a writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution to challenge an order of the Supreme Court which has attained finality and he had to file a review petition instead. Justice Nath agreed with the submission of the advocate general and wondered if the Supreme Court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 32 could hear the appeal over the three-judge bench verdict confirming the conviction and the sentence.

"Would it not be appropriate if you come up with an application in that proceedings itself that can be considered? It is a dangerous proposition that after any judgment or a matter which is closed can be opened up under Article 32," the judge said. Sankaranarayanan referred to two 2014 verdicts of the apex court in death row cases and said both were passed on writ petitions.

Justice Karol asked Sankaranarayanan, "In view of the submissions of the advocate general, are our hands not tied under Article 32?" The bench suggested Sankaranarayanan to file a review petition for an examination by the apex court. The senior lawyer then sought time to persuade the court, which posted the hearing on April 3. Dupare, hailing Nagpur, killed the child in April 2008. He had lured her with chocolates and after raping her, crushed her head with stones to avoid identification of the body.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/supreme-court-to-examine-whether-writ-petition-can-be-filed-against-death-penalty-confirmed-by-it-8025843

Uttar Pradesh - Three men sentenced to death in India for 1981 caste massacre

19 March 2025

Saiyed Moziz Imam

BBC Hindi

A court in India has sentenced three men to death for the 1981 murder of 24 people from the Dalit (formerly untouchable) community. 

The men were part of a gang of bandits who shot the victims, including women and children, in Dehuli village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The special court said on Tuesday that the killings fell into the "rarest of the rare" category, which justifies capital punishment in India. The men, who insist they are innocent, can appeal against the sentence in a higher court. All the victims were from the Dalit community, which sits at the bottom of India's rigid caste hierarchy. Relatives of the victims have welcomed the sentence but say the decision should have come earlier.

Two of the three men appeared at the Special Court in Mainpuri district on Tuesday

"Justice came very late to us. The accused have lived their lives," said Sanjay Chaudhry, whose cousin was killed in the firing. Thirteen of the 17 men accused in the case have died in the 44 years since the crime was committed. Apart from the three men who have been sentenced to death, there is one more accused, who is absconding. The crime took place on 18 November 1981, when 17 men - most of them from the upper caste - wearing police uniforms stormed Dehuli and started shooting at villagers.

According to the police complaint registered at the time, the violence followed the murder of a Dalit member of the robbers' gang by his upper-caste colleagues. The gang members then attacked the village because they suspected that some Dalit villagers were providing information to the police in the murder case. The survivors of the massacre have vivid memories of the day.

"I was doing household chores when suddenly the firing started," says Rakesh Kumar, a witness who was a teenager at the time. 

"I was hiding behind a stack of paddy and when I came out, I saw that many people, including my mother, were shot," he said.

Mr Kumar's mother Chameli Devi, now 80, was hit by a bullet in her leg while running from the gunfire.

"They did not spare anyone, including women or children," she said. "Whoever they found was killed."

The firing lasted for more than four hours and the attackers fled the scene before the police arrived, according to media reports. The crime led to an exodus of Dalits from Dehuli, and the local administration sent police personnel to the village, where they stayed for months in a bid to reassure people. It also triggered a political uproar, and then prime minister Indira Gandhi had visited Dehuli to meet the victims. In 1984, the case was transferred from a district court to the Allahabad Sessions Court on the orders of the state's high court. The trial continued there on and off until 2024, when the case was shifted to the special court in Mainpuri which found the men guilty. It's not unusual for courts in India to take decades to finish hearing a case and deliver a verdict, especially when the victims are from disadvantaged communities. In 2023, a 90-year-old man was sentenced for life in prison for a caste crime that also took place in 1981.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2e1kp5l70o

Telangana court orders death sentence to 1, life term for 6 in 2018 hate killing

By Srinivasa Rao Apparasu

Published on: Mar 10, 2025 08:51 pm IST

The court in its judgement concluded that the murder was carried out at the behest of a businessman who could not digest his daughter’s marriage with a Dalit Christian.

Pranay Kumar (left) was hacked to death in broad day light in front of his mother and pregnant wife Amrutha Varshini (right) in Telangana’s Miryalaguda town on September 14, 2018. (File Photo)

Hyderabad: A special court in Telangana’s Nalgonda on Monday sentenced a contract killer to death and six others to life imprisonment in the 2018 hate murder of a Dalit man in Miryalaguda town. The victim, 23-year-old Pranay Kumar, was hacked to death with a machete in broad day light on September 14, 2018, when he was coming out of a government hospital at Miryalaguda town after a medical checkup of his pregnant wife Amrutha Varshini (20) along with his mother. He died on the spot, and the incident was captured on CCTV cameras, causing public outrage. The second additional sessions court dealing with the cases of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, in its judgement, concluded that the murder was carried out at the behest of Amrutha Varshini’s father Tirunagari Maruthi Rao, a prominent Vysya businessman in the town, who could not digest his daughter’s marriage with a Dalit Christian.

Maruthi Rao, who was named accused No. 1 (A-1) in the case, died by suicide in March 2020, reportedly due to fear of conviction, when the trial was going on. The court sentenced the A-2 in the case — Subhash Kumar Sharma, a contract killer from Bihar — to death. The other six accused - Asghar Ali (A-3), Abdul Bari (A-4), M A Kareem (A-5), Shravan Kumar (A-6), Shiva (A-7) and Nizam (A-8) were sentenced to life imprisonment. While Abdul Karim was a local Congress leader who introduced supari killers Asghar Ali and Mohd Bari, who were suspected to have links with ISI of Pakistan, to Maruthi Rao, Shiva was the car driver who carried the killers and Nizam was an associate of Subhash Sharma, who was the actual killer. Maruthi Rao younger brother, Shravan Kumar, who was a co-conspirator in the case who allegedly arranged the meeting between Maruthi Rao and the supari gang, pleaded for leniency, citing family responsibilities and denying involvement in the crime. “I have no direct involvement with the murder. Please grant me pardon for the sake of my two school-going children,” Shravan Kumar said. Police had arrested the seven persons, who were hired by Maruthi Rao for a supari of ₹1 crore, within four days after the murder that triggered state-wide outrage. Subhash Sharma was arrested by the Nalgonda police from his native place Samastipur in Bihar and was brought to Telangana after securing a transit warrant from the local court.

The court pronounced its judgement after a prolonged trial for five years and nine months, involving examination of forensic evidence, post-mortem reports and testimonies of witnesses. It examined 102 witnesses and recorded their statements. The police department, under the supervision of the then Nalgonda superintendent of police (SP) A V Ranganath, conducted a detailed investigation and prepared a 1,600-page charge sheet. The investigation confirmed the involvement of eight accused in the murder, and the charge sheet was filed on June 12, 2019. IPS officer Ranganath, who is presently commissioner of Hyderabad Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRAA), said the convicts in Pranay Kumar’s murder employed advanced technology to execute the crime intelligently. “Initially, there was significant confusion in the case, and Maruthi Rao also pretended to be unaware of any involvement,” he said. He further revealed that the case was cracked within three days of launching the investigation. “I am happy that the second accused has received the death penalty, while the other accused were sentenced to life imprisonment. Truth always prevails, no matter how much one tries to suppress it,” he said.

The Nalgonda police had registered the case based on a complaint given by Pranay Kumar’s father Perumalla Balaswamy. Pranay Kumar and Amrutha, who lived in the same neighbourhood in Miryalaguda town had been friends since childhood. Kumar was looking for a job when he married Amrutha in January 2018, much against her parents’ wishes. Their marriage had led to serious disputes between the two families, and multiple complaints were filed with the police. However, Amrutha stood by Pranay and stated in front of the police that she would live with him. She suspected her father Maruthi Rao to be the mastermind behind the crime. Pranay Kumar’s parents Balaswamy and Premalatha paid tributes at his grave after the verdict. “We have lost a lot with Pranay’s murder. Such hate killings are deeply saddening. This verdict should serve as a deterrent to stop such heinous crimes,” Balaswamy told reporters.

Social activist V Sandhya called the verdict a victory for people’s movements and justice. “The police and courts should continue their commitment to delivering justice in similar cases,” she said. Among the convicts, Subhash Sharma remained in jail as he was denied bail, while Asghar Ali was already in prison for another case. The other accused had secured bail and were out during the trial. 

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/lifestyle/fashion/not-nita-ambani-natasha-poonawalla-owns-rs-126-crore-rare-pink-diamond-ring-that-once-belonged-to-queen-of-france-101766371955581.html

Tamil Nadu - Tirunelveli murder case: One gets death sentence, 4 others get life imprisonment

06 Mar 2025,

DT NEXT Bureau

According to the prosecution, R Vaikuntam (49), a realtor, was murdered by an armed gang on March 10, 2022

MADURAI: Second Additional District Court in Tirunelveli on Thursday awarded a death sentence to an accused in a murder case and life imprisonment for four others. According to the prosecution, R Vaikuntam (49), a realtor, was murdered by an armed gang on March 10, 2022. Palayamkottai Taluk police filed a case following the incident and arrested eight persons. In 2016, a gang led by Rajan (69) attempted to murder A Perumal over enmity. The case was tried in the court and meanwhile, Vaikuntam on March 3, 2022, appeared as a witness in the case against Rajan. When Vaikuntam was about to reappear for further hearing the gang led by R Selvaraj (42) hacked Vaikuntam to death.

Judge Suresh Kumar pronounced the sentence and awarded the death penalty to the main accused K Selvaraj (42), while four others including Antonyraj alias Prabhakaran (39), Philip alias Arul Philip Raj (30), Anto alias Anto Nallaiya (27) and Babu (40) were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three other accused including Rajan, Leela alias Selva Leela and Jackulin were sentenced to undergo two months of imprisonment, sources said.

Source: https://www.dtnext.in/news/tamilnadu/tirunelveli-murder-case-one-gets-death-sentence-4-others-get-life-imprisonment-825372

Death Penalty Must Balance Aggravating and Mitigating Factors in Rarest of Rare Cases: Chhattisgarh High Court

By Law Trend 

March 5, 2025 9:27 PM

The Chhattisgarh High Court, in a significant ruling, upheld the death sentence of Panchram alias Mannu Gendre (35), convicted for the brutal murder of a four-year-old child. The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, emphasized that while the death penalty must be reserved for for the “rarest of rare” cases...

Summary

🧑‍⚖️ Case Background

• Accused: Panchram alias Mannu Gendre, about 35 years old.

• Crime: He was convicted by a trial court for kidnapping and murdering a 4-year-old boy (Harsh Chetan) in Raipur district, Chhattisgarh. The prosecution alleged that he took the child under the pretext of going to visit places, then murdered him by pouring petrol and setting him on fire. The child’s half-burnt body was later found after the accused was traced and arrested. Casemine

⚖️ Trial Court Sentence

• The trial court convicted him under Sections 302 (murder), 363 and 364 (kidnapping) of the IPC and sentenced him to death, subject to High Court confirmation. Casemine

📍 High Court Decision (Chhattisgarh High Court – Feb 19, 2025)

• Conviction Upheld: The High Court affirmed his guilt for the murder and related offences. Casemine

• Death Sentence Commuted: However, the High Court rejected confirmation of the death penalty and commuted it to life imprisonment for the remainder of his natural life. Casemine

🧠 Key Reasoning by the High Court

The bench (Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal) discussed principles on capital punishment:

1. Balance of Factors: Courts must balance aggravating factors (such as brutality of the crime) and mitigating factors (such as age, criminal history, and possibility of reformation) before confirming a death sentence. Casemine

2. Mitigating Circumstances: Although the crime was brutal, the court noted that the accused:

   • was about 35 at the time,

   • had no previous criminal record, and

   • there was no evidence showing he cannot be reformed or rehabilitated. Casemine

3. “Rarest of Rare” Standard: The High Court held that the case did not meet the “rarest of rare” threshold required under Indian law to justify the death penalty. It found that life imprisonment would sufficiently meet the ends of justice. Casemine

📌 Outcome

• Death sentence ❌ → Life imprisonment ✔️, to be served for the rest of his natural life.

• Conviction for murder and kidnapping remains intact.

Source: https://www.casemine.com/judgement/in/67ec6debb126b2159568e3a1

Supreme Court commutes death penalty of ex bank manager: 'Could have lived a happy life'

By HT News Desk

Updated on: Mar 05, 2025 04:37 am IST

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta said the man shall now “await his natural end, without remission, in the confines of a penitentiary.”

The Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted for killing his children and in-laws, saying the hangman's noose should be “taken off the convict's neck”. The court, however, sentenced him to jail till the “end of his days”. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta upheld his conviction last month. It said the man shall now “await his natural end, without remission, in the confines of a penitentiary.”

The court said the convict Naika, a former bank manager, had no criminal record. The trial court didn't take into account all the mitigating circumstances before holding the crime to be “rarest of rare”, it added. In 2010, the man murdered both his sister in-law and mother in-law and dumped their bodies in a septic tank of his house. The next day, he went to a garden and drowned them in a water tank. Justice Karol, who authored the verdict on behalf of the bench, said the barbarity of the crime hadn't "escaped us, or we, in anyway have condoned such a hideous act".

Justice Karol, who authored the verdict on behalf of the bench, said the barbarity of the crime hadn't "escaped us. (File photo)

What the Supreme Court said

He said Naika killed his sister-in-law because she had fallen in love with a person from a different caste. "Whom a person falls in love with, is not within the human sphere of control - the former (sister in-law) fell in love with her colleague…who was her co-worker, and who incidentally was from a different caste. When told to break off her relationship with him for that reason, she couldn't. Her sister (wife of Naika) and her mother, the latter, both supported their near and dear ones in pursuing their desires. We see nothing wrong with that," the verdict added.

The court said had he heeded the advice of his wife to not interfere in her sister-in-law's personal matters, he would have lived a happy life. "It is sad that such a restrictive world-view on part of the appellant-convict became the reason for these senseless acts of violence and depravity. Had he heeded the advice of PW-2 (wife of Naika), when she told him not to interfere in (sister in-law’s) personal matters, he could have gone on to live a perfectly happy life," the bench added. Naika and his wife were both bank managers posted in Solapur and Mangalore, respectively. They had a son and a daughter.

With inputs from PTI

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/supreme-court-commutes-death-penalty-of-ex-bank-manager-could-have-lived-a-happy-life-101741110254082.html#google_vignette

Delhi: Kin of brutal rape-murder victim take solace in death sentence for convict

By

Hemani Bhandari

Published on: Mar 02, 2025 05:16 am IST

The rapist was 21 years old at the time of the crime. His father was sentenced to life imprisonment for helping dispose of the eight-year-old girl’s body

“It truly feels like justice has been served and my daughter in heaven would be smiling”, the 45-year-old father of a brutal rape and murder victim said a day after the convict in the case was sentenced to death for the crime that took place in Nihal Vihar, outer Delhi, in February 2019. While the rapist, Rajender Kumar, who was 21 years old at the time of the crime, was sentenced to death, his father Ram Saran, then 52, was sentenced to life imprisonment for helping his son dispose of the eight-year-old girl’s body, according to the verdict issued by a Delhi court on Friday.

Sitting in their house on a cramped street in Nihal Vihar on Saturday, the victim’s mother said she was in the court when the judge passed the sentence. “When she sentenced the man to death, for a second, I felt someone will die; but, I also felt content that my daughter was finally given justice for the brutality she went through. We waited for six years to see this day,” the 38-year-old homemaker said.The father, a driver by profession, teared up as he recollected the day of the incident. He said that around 5.30pm on February 9, 2019, the victim’s five-year-old sister—who is speech impaired—rushed home and communicated to them that she was playing with her sister when a man approached them, gave her sister something to eat, slapped her and took her away.

The parents said they spent the whole night looking for their daughter, but to their dismay, found her body bound with a rope in a nearby park. “I was with a relative when I found my daughter dead around 7am. I wanted to hold her but my relative said that this was now a police case and I shouldn’t touch her body. It was the most difficult time of my life,” he said. The accused and his father were arrested two days later. According to the sequence of events shared by the police, the rapist tied the girl, strangled her and bludgeoned her with a brick to ensure she had died. Within 45 minutes of Kumar murdering the girl, Saran reached home and advised Kumar to wait until midnight to dispose of the body. “They carried the body on a scooter and dumped it in the nearby park,” an officer said.

On Saturday, the parents said that over the past six years, they attended most of the hearings and on the day of conviction, the judge had asked for their demand. “We demanded that they should be sentenced to death or given life imprisonment. The judge assured us that our demand will be heard,” the father said. The incident has left the parents scared for their speech-impaired daughter, who is currently 11. The mother was eight months pregnant when the incident took place and a month later, she delivered a stillborn child. “After I lost my daughter, I barely ate and cried all day. I lost the baby in my womb. The doctors told me three days after delivery that he had already died in my womb,” she said. The father said that they don’t send their daughter anywhere alone and the mother takes her to school and accompanies her back. “We are so scared. We are extra cautious for her now,” he said.  The mother said: “Our lives are ruined though. One child was murdered, one child died. If they were alive, they would have taken care of our daughter, but now what will happen to her after we die?” The victim’s photos and clothes, the mother said, are still lying in her “sandook” (trunk), which is locked up and not seen by the family, she said. “The weight of our hearts when we carried her coffin was too heavy,” the mother cried.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/delhi-kin-of-brutal-rape-murder-victim-take-solace-in-death-sentence-for-convict-101740852127076.html