Orphanage founder gets death sentence for rape and murder

MUMBAI March 22, 2013: A sessions court on Thursday awarded death sentence to the founder of Panvel's Kalyani Mahila and Bal Seva Sanstha for killing a minor. Ramchandra Karanjule (53) also received two life sentences and other sentences for raping and physically abusing disabled inmates at the state-licenced private shelter. Five other convicts received various sentences for their role in the rape and torture of disabled inmates, many of them minors. "Accused number one (Karanjule) is sentenced to death and he shall be hanged till he is dead subject to confirmation by the honourable Bombay high court," the judge said. Among the other convicts, Deepak Kasbe (35) was sentenced to life in jail for gang rape; Prakash Khadke (36), a salaried employee of the shelter, to life imprisonment for rape; the then caretaker Parvati Mavle (61) and the then superintendent Sonali Badade (22) to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment each for abetting gang rape; journalist Nanabhau Karanjule to two years in jail for assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty. "While holding a quasi-parental position, the accused (Karanjule) has in fact breached the trust and fiduciary relationship with inmates of the home to satisfy his insatiable lust," the judge said. Referring to the minor for whose murder Karanjule was convicted, the judge said, "We have to imagine the condition of a severe mentally challenged mute orphan... who is severely anaemic with 3.3 haemoglobin, with many complications since two to three months and is deteriorating day by day and is given beating and is not taken to hospital till she reaches the death bed. Can we not say it is diabolic?" The judge said such a case fell in the rarest-of-rare category. "He has no right to live in society," the judge said. "He is a menace to society." Karanjule and Kasbe had made five victims sleep in a row so they could commit gang rape, the judge said. "This shocks the judicial conscience," the judge said. "The girls were not normal. They were physically and mentally challenged. They were kept under duress and coercion." Referring to Mavle and Badade, the judge said: "Two untrained unqualified staff were kept to look after the girls. One of them was an illiterate old lady. The other was a young girl, who herself has illicit relations with the accused (Karanjule)." About the shelter, the judge said: "The only objective of the orphanage was to satisfy lust and to earn money." After the verdict, Karanjule told the media: "I am confused and do not know what am I supposed to do. The court has ordered that I should be hanged till death, but the fact remains that I am innocent." Courtesy : http://m.timesofindia.com/city/mumbai/Orphanage-founder-gets-death-sentence-for-rape-and-murder/articleshow/19118651.cms

Two sentenced to death for Bhiwani honour killing

Rohtak, March 01, 2013 : A Bhiwani fast-track court sentenced two murder convicts to death penalty on Thursday in an honour killing case. Naresh (23) and Subhash (30), residents of Ranila village under Dadri subdivision of Bhiwani district,  had thrashed to death their widowed aunts Shakuntala (40) and Suman (35) on April 17, 2011. During the interrogation, the convicts confessed that their aunts were involved in illicit relations and they had killed them for the sake of the's fammily honour. During the interrogation, the convicts confessed that their aunts were involved in illicit relations and they had killed them for the sake of the family's honour. The duo had dragged both women out of their house and beaten them up with sticks at the post office chowk in the village. Later, the victims had succumbed to their injuries. The duo had dragged both the women out of their house beaten them up with sticks at the post office chowk in the village. Later, the victims had succumbed to their injuries. On the complaint of panch Kailash Kumar, a case was registered under sections 302 (murder), 449 (trespass), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Bond police station. Naresh and Subhash were arrested on April 19, 2011. As per the police, Naresh had been booked on the charges of rape and kidnapping in 2007. A Bhiwani court had sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment and he was out on bail when the double murder was committed. Holding Naresh and Subhash guilty on the basis of evidence presented by the police, the court of additional district judge Sarita Gupta also imposed a fine of Rs. 27,000 on both convicts. Courtesy : http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Haryana/Two-sentenced-to-death-for-Bhiwani-honour-killing/Article1-1019594.aspx

Man gets death for rape & murder (after a nine day trial)

Bhopal March 15, 2013: The court of the Bhopal District and Sessions judge sentenced Nandkishore Walmiki, 50, to death on Thursday. He was held guilty of rape and murder of an 8- yr- old girl, whose dismembered body was found in TT Nagar area of the city on February 4. The judgment came 36 days after the discovery of the crime and the trial was completed in 9 working days. The incident had rocked the entire city. In a jam- packed courtroom, DJ Sushma Khosla delivered the judgment in the presence of accused Nandkishore. He was convicted under section 302 and 376 section of the IPC. However, Nandkishore told the court just before the judgment that he was innocent and was implicated in the case. Within the last 20 days, this is the second case in which capital punishment has been awarded by district judge. On February 22, Khosla had sentenced Dilip Bankar, accused of rape and murder of a 7- year- old girl in 2005, to death. Nandkishore lived in Ahata Rustam Khan locality, where the family of the deceased too lived. The victim along with her younger brother, Chunnu and mother Sapna had gone to Dussehra Maidan on February 3, from where she went missing. Her mutilated body was recovered the next morning after her family lodged a missing person report with TT Nagar police. Anup Maurya, a resident of Ashoka Garden, who was running a book stall in the ‘ Bhopal Utsav’ fair underway in the nearby Dushhera ground, informed the police that a stray dog was carrying human limbs into the bushes in the open space across the road from 45 Bungalows locality. He informed SI Santosh Sharma who called the girl’s father Narendra Dhuria and other relatives who identified the body as that of victim. Blood samples were sent to Forensic laboratory, Sagar. Along with investigation officer Santosh Sharma, SI GBS Sengar and Govindpura TI SKS Tomar were also put on the case for speedy investigations. Police had filed a charge sheet with a list of 55 witnesses on February 27. Finally 30 Prosecution witnesses deposed in the day- today trial. None of witnesses turned hostile in the case. There was no defence witness. Prosecutor Rajendra Giri said, “ District Judge Sushma Khosla delivered judgment before the accused. The judgment will go to the High Court for confirmation of death penalty within next couple of days.” Courtesy : http://freepressjournal.in/man-gets-death-for-rape-murder/

High Court commutes death penalty to life term

Express News Service - KOCHI 07th March 2013 : The Kerala High Court on Wednesday set aside the capital punishment awarded to a carpenter who killed his wife. A Division Bench comprising Justice K T Sankaran and Justice M L Joseph Francis passed the order while considering the petition filed by Ramachandran, of Malappuram, seeking a review of the death punishment awarded by the Manjeri Additional Sessions Court. The Bench awarded life imprisonment to the accused. It is held that life imprisonment is a rule and death sentence is an exception. The court observed that there is nothing on record to show that he has a criminal background. The accused is not dangerous to society. “His act was heinous. But it will not come under the ‘rarest of rare cases’. So the accused does not need to be eliminated from society,” the Bench observed. Courtesy : http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article1491390.ece

HC commutes youth’s death penalty to life term

New Delhi, February 23, 2013 The Delhi High Court has commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence given by a trial court to a youth for killing his father five years ago and chopping of his body into pieces as a sacrifice to a deity. The youth committed this act in the belief that it would ward off his marital troubles. “The unusual nature of facts needs to be considered to decide the sentence. This is perhaps the kind of crime which the Supreme Court referred to as having been committed by one morally-mentally retarded or disordered person.Taking these into consideration he cannot be termed as an “irredeemable murderer” who is beyond the pale of reformation,” said a bench headed by justice S Ravindra Bhat. The court was hearing an appeal filed by one Jitender against the death sentence awarded to him by a trial court in January 2011. Significantly, the court directed that in all cases of serious crimes like murder and homicide where the accused are alleged to have indulged in unusual behavior, indicative of mental disorder or disturbance, the magistrate taking cognisance of the offence alleged shall refer the accused for suitable medical check-up. This will be done to evaluate the possibility of his or her being of a mental condition which might entitle him or her to avail the defence of insanity. The trial court had awarded capital punishment to Jitender terming his crime as the “rarest of rare” warranting nothing less than the gallows.”The brutal murder of the father followed by the mutilation of his body, all in the name of human sacrifice, to appease the deity for his own welfare, adds a grave dimension to this case and leaves no scope for escape from the conclusion that it is a case falling in the category of rarest of rare, meriting the extreme penalty,” the court had said. Jitender had told the court that he had a dream in which the deity asked him for a human sacrifice to ward off his troubles with his wife. Courtesy : http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/HC-commutes-youth-s-death-penalty-to-life-term/Article1-1016496.aspx

HC commutes death penalty to 30-yr life term

Nagpur, February 01, 2013 : The Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court has commuted the death sentence of a 38-year-old man, who had brutally killed his wife and a teenaged daughter in April 2011, to life imprisonment for 30 years. A Bombay High Court division bench of Justices A P Lavande and Arun Choudhary of Bombay High Court here yesterday did not confirm the death sentence, awarded by first adhoc Additional Sessions Judge K L Vyas to accused - Prakash Vinayak Shinganapure. The HC awarded Shinganapure life imprisonment for a minimum of 30 years. Prakash had killed his wife Pranita and 13-year-old daughter Shreya on April 7, 2011 at their home in a city locality. The accused stabbed his wife as many as 62 times and daughter 45 times with a knife and also inflected about 20 injuries on himself in an attempt to end his life, over poor financial conditions. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on the convict. Courtesy : http://zeenews.india.com/news/maharashtra/hc-commutes-death-penalty-to-30-yr-life-term_826340.html

Bombay HC Confirms Death Penalty for a Rape Accused

Mumbai | Mar 08, 2013 Terming the rape and murder of a "defenseless" minor girl as the "ultimate insult to womanhood", the Bombay High Court today confirmed the death penalty awarded to a 22-year-old youth after it held that the case fell under the "rarest of rare" category. A division bench of Justices P V Hardas and A M Thipsay confirmed the death penalty of Raju Jagdish Paswan, hailing from Bihar, for raping and murdering a nine-year-old girl in June 2010 in Sangli district of Maharashtra. "After evaluating the mitigating and aggravating circumstances we are of the opinion that this case falls under the category of rarest of rare. We have no hesitation in confirming the death penalty," the court said. "The accused has committed an offence of rape and murder on a defenseless child which is the ultimate insult to womanhood. The offence has been committed in a most gruesome and grotesque manner which is not only repulsive but also shocks the collective conscience of the society," it added. The bench further observed that the accused will be a "menace to the society and no possibility to reform". The court also held that the accused committed the offence not on a spur of the moment but with due deliberation and planning. "The accused knew the daily routine of the victim child and had been stalking her. The accused had not only satisfied his carnal lust but had also murdered her apprehending that she would identify him later," the court said. "Children are considered to be soft targets as they offer little or no resistance. The accused exhibited total brutality and inhuman conduct. Even after committing the crime the accused has not shown any remorse," the court said. The incident dates back to June 21, 2010 when the victim had gone missing from her house in Bedag village in Sangli district. The victim's father, a labourer in a farm, had lodged a missing complaint. During investigation the police learnt that the victim was last seen with the accused who used to live in the neighbouring house. According to prosecution, when the accused was detained and interrogated he revealed that he had raped the girl and murdered her and then dumped her body in a well. The high court further held that the accused had shown no compunction in committing this gruesome act on a victim who was aged merely nine years. The sessions court in November last year while awarding Paswan the death penalty had observed that the accused had committed a heinous crime of raping an innocent child and that it was a "cold blooded murder".Courtesy : http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=791864