Abolish Death Penalty India: Kewat

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

HC confirms death sentence for rapist-killer

Printed from MUMBAI:
Oct 15, 2015, 01:21 IST

Bombay high court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a Bhayandar resident for a heinous rape and murder of a six-year-old girl and confirmed a death sentence awarded by a trial court. The convict had throttled the child to death after raping and breaking her vertebrae bone in June 2010.A bench headed by the acting Chief Justice Vijaya Kapse-Tahilramani agreed with the public prosecutor, Prajakta Shinde, that it was a “cold-blooded crime so heinous that it merits death sentence as it falls in the rarest or rare category”.

The HC observed that the “rising crime wave” against women and children has to be tackled seriously and earnestly. A Thane sessions court had earlier this year convicted a 29-year-old labourer Prakash Kewat for being the rapist and murderer. Kewat who resided in a Bhayandar slum and worked in a company in Vasai had raped and throttled the child to death. The girl, had left her house at 9pm on June 11, 2010, and was found only the next day at 7am, naked, in a nallah, her body covered with bruises, her vertebra fractured. At first the police had registered a case of drowning. But investigation by investigating officer Deepak Devraj led to a proper FIR of rape and murder. The evidence in the case was clinching said Shinde. '

A house search showed blood-stained articles including cardboard box, tiles, pillow covers and his clothes, which matched the DNA and blood of the victim. Doctors deposed that the small body was covered with 15 injuries and her vertebra was fractured. Such injuries were not from a fall as the defence suggested.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Mumbai/HC-confirms-death-sentence-for-rapist-killer/articleshow/49360951.cms (Accessed on 19 December 2018)

Man gets death penalty for rape & murder of minor girl

Press Trust of India | Thane Last Updated at November 27, 2014 21:50 IST

A 24-year-old man was today awarded death sentence by a court for the rape and murder of a minor girl here in 2010. Parkash Zinak Nishad alias Kewat, a resident of Bhayander, a Mumbai suburb, was pronounced guilty by Thane Additional Sessions Judge S J Kale. The Judge awarded death sentence to Nishad under IPC Section 302 (murder), holding the case as the "rarest of the rare" and also varying jail terms, including life sentence, for other offences related to the case like rape and causing disappearance of evidence.

Additional Public Prosecutor Sanjay Lodhe said the six -year-old victim and the convict, who is married, were neighbours. On June 11, 2010 when the girl was playing outside her residence after dinner, Nishad picked her up and took to his house where he sexually assaulted the minor. He subsequently murdered the girl and dumped her body in a 'nullah' where it was spotted the next morning, the court was told. The accused was arrested while he was planning to flee from the locality.

The prosecution examined 13 witnesses, including the parents of the girl. The court accepted the submissions made by the prosecution like medical and DNA reports and also relied on circumstantial and other evidence before arriving at the guilty verdict.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/man-gets-death-penalty-for-rape-murder-of-minor-girl-114112701335_1.html (Accessed on 19 December 2018)

The Death Penalty Scenario in India

India is one of 193 countries that retains the death penalty. Some judges have delivered landmark verdicts upholding the rights of death row prisoners, while debates continue advocating abolition or reform of sentencing policies. The Indian government remains committed to retention, asserting executions occur only in “rarest of rare” cases. The death penalty applies to crimes including murder, kidnapping, terrorism, desertion, inducement to suicide of a minor or mentally-retarded person, and in certain cases of rape. Outrage over child rape and murder has intensified these discussions. After an unofficial eight-year moratorium, the government executed Ajmal Kasab (Mumbai attacks) in 2012 and Afzal Guru (Parliament attack) in 2013, both covertly and immediately after mercy petitions were rejected. Prior to this, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in 2004 after 13 years on death row. Following these, many mercy petitions have been rejected, creating fear among death row convicts. Courts continue to hand down death sentences at an increasing rate. Empirical studies highlight the plight of death row prisoners. The India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found fair trial rights largely denied, with convicts often marginalized by caste, religion, poverty, and education. The Death Penalty Research Project (2015) documented socio-economic profiles and experiences of death row prisoners. Dr. Reena Mary George’s studies (2014, 2009) emphasized poverty, social exclusion, and dignity as central to death row experiences, and examined the human rights impact of the penalty. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2015, 101 prisoners were on death row, with many sentences commuted to life. The “rarest of rare” doctrine introduced by the Supreme Court in the 1980s has not substantially limited death sentences, which have increased over the decades. Justice Joseph (2018) reaffirmed the Bachan Singh judgment but urged restriction of the death penalty to only those cases meeting its criteria. While updating the blog and conducting my own empirical studies, I observed the heinous nature of the crimes that were committed and thought about the families, about their loss, about the victims who for no fault of their own died. If I lost my relative or a dear friend, would I still oppose death penalty and would I still advocate to abolish the death sentence? Having worked in the criminal justice system and also having the seen the other side, where often it is the marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed who are on death row makes me want to advocate for abolition of this punishment. Victims should definitely get justice for their loss, for their pain. No one should escape the rule of law. As long as humanity exists; crime will exist. Should we not re-consider our sentencing policies? Reena Mary George