Convict Must Remain Behind Bars Until He Is Close To 'Sunset Of Virility': P&H High Court Commutes Death Penalty In Rape, Murder Of 5-Yr-Old

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has commuted the death sentence awarded to Virender alias Bholu, convicted for the rape and murder of a five-and-a-half-year-old girl, to rigorous imprisonment for life with a minimum of 30 years' actual incarceration without remission with 30 lakhs of fine to be paid to the victim's family. The Court acquitted convict's mother convicted by the Trial Court under Section 201, 120-B IPC, observing that "Kamla Devi s only fault is that she was trying to protect her Raja-beta, for which she cannot be punished under the Indian Penal Code; however condemnable her conduct may be." Justice Anoop Chitkara and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur said, "The relevant facts proved and established on the record indicate the gruesome crime because Laado was walking with the convict, swaying her one hand and letting the convict hold her other hand in absolute trust, without the mental age or information to suspect the probable evil of a devil. However, the convict has no criminal antecedents, and his conduct in prison is not violative, which makes reformation possible. To save the other kids and females, the convict must stay inside the four walls of the prison until he is closer to the Sunset of his virility."Murder Was In Panic But To Save Children Proportionate Sentence Should Be ImposedPerusing the psychological evaluation report of a Board comprising a Psychiatrist, a Medical Officer, and a psychologist, and as per the Board's opinion, the convict Virender does not have any significant mental health problems. After analyzing the factual background in which the convict had committed the rape and murder of a helpless young girl, Justice Chitkara said, "there does not appear to be any mitigating factor. However, the prosecution did not bring to the Court's notice any report by the Jail Superintendent mentioning the violent conduct of the convict in prison.""While deterrence through threat of death may still be a promising strategy in some frightful areas of murderous crime, to espouse a monolithic theory of its deterrent efficacy is unscientific and so we think it right to shift the emphasis, to accept composite factors of penal strategy and not to put all the punitive eggs in the 'hanging' basket but hopefully to try the humane mix," added the Court.The Court noted that the subsequent murder was because of panic to destroy evidence of rape and not a premeditated act. "Therefore, the convict's life should not be taken away by the judicial process and instead, to save the children and females, he can be incapacitated by imposing a suitable sentence that is also proportionate to the heinous and gruesome crime of raping and killing a girl aged 51⁄2 years, whom the accused was well familiar with."There is no allegation to substantiate that there is no possibility of the reformation of the convict on the death row, which creates an alternative view that would not validate the capital punishment, giving rise to the two views theory― one favoring capital punishment when in the given situation keeping a criminal alive is so dangerous that taking away life remains the only option, and the other view is to keep such a convict in custody for the longest possible time permissible under the law to do substantial justice to all concerned, it added.Therefore, the bench said when two views are possible before this Court, to impose or not to impose death sentence, then the view for not awarding the capital punishment must be preferred over the other extreme irreversible sentence.The Court highlighted that there is also no evidence on record to suggest that the appellants would be a menace and threat to the harmonious and peaceful co-existence of the society."However, without commenting on such observations of the trial Court, that the death sentence was given to save other persons, this aspect can be taken care of by keeping the accused in custody till a minimum period of incarceration, which can extend much beyond his middle age," it added.Facts In BriefThe prosecution alleged that on May 31, 2018, Virender, who worked with the victim's father, took Laado along with him while bringing lunch. When the child did not return home, villagers searched for her. CCTV footage from a nearby private school showed Virender leading the child by hand towards his house.Later that evening, villagers reached Virender's house, where his mother Kamla Devi allegedly resisted their entry and switched off the electricity. Using mobile phone torches, the villagers discovered Laado's body concealed in a drum in the compound of the house. The child was later found to have been raped and murdered.An FIR was registered, investigation conducted, and both Virender and Kamla Devi were tried. The Trial Court awarded the death penalty to Virender and convicted Kamla Devi for conspiracy and causing disappearance of evidence.After an exhaustive evaluation of the circumstantial evidence, the Court held that Virender's guilt was proved beyond...

Convict Must Remain Behind Bars Until He Is Close To 'Sunset Of Virility': P&H High Court Commutes Death Penalty In Rape, Murder Of 5-Yr-Old

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