New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence awarded to a convict of the rape and murder of a mentally unsound and differently-abled girl. On the matter related to the seven-and-a-half-year-old girl, the court said that the crime is highly condemnable and shocking to the conscience. A three-judge bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C T Ravikumar upheld the May 29, 2015 order of the Rajasthan High Court awarding the death penalty.
"Especially when the victim (a mentally unsound and differently-abled seven-and-a-half-year-old girl) is seen, the manner in which the victim's head was crushed, due to which the front bone of her head was broken and she suffered several injuries, the offence is highly condemnable and shocking to the conscience," the court said. The supreme court further said, "In the present case, all the facts around the crime and the offender make it horrific. We clearly agree with the idea that there is no reason to reduce the death penalty. Even the option of awarding life imprisonment without any remission does not seem reasonable considering the nature of the offences of the appellant and his conduct. '
Earlier, the High Court had said that the case falls under the category of very rare cases and it had upheld the order passed by the sessions court in the matter. The high court had said that there was no error in the order of the sessions court. The accused had molested, raped and murdered the girl on January 17, 2013.
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