Swarna Shukla –
Published on: November 26, 2021 at 15:10 IST
The Bombay High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to three Convicts in the 2013 gang-rape case of a 22-year-old Photojournalist in a defunct Shakti Mills compound in Central Mumbai , to lifetime imprisonment.
A Division Bench of Justice Sadhana Jadhav and Prithviraj Chavan refused to confirm the death penalty sentenced to Vijay Jadhav, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh and Mohammad Ansari, and commuted their sentence to life imprisonment for the remainder of their lives.
The Bench also believed that it cannot ignore the facts that the offence had shocked the conscience of the society and rape is a violation of human rights, however the death sentence is irrevocable.
In the year 2014, the Trial Court had convicted three men for gang-raping a Photojournalist inside the abandoned Shakti Mills compound in Central Mumbai, and following the new laws enacted in 2013 , there were awarded capital punishment for being repeat rape convicts.
The three Convicts were awarded death penalty under the Amended Section 376 (e) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) which states maximum sentence of life or death can be awarded to repeat offenders.
Furthermore, the fourth Convict, Siraj Khan, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and a minor Accused was sent to rehabilitation centre. The three Convicts approached the High Court challenging the validity of Section 376 (e) of the IPC and argued that the Session Court acted beyond its power in awarding them the death penalty.
Justice Sadhana Jadhav noted, “The convicts deserve the punishment of rigorous Imprisonment for life ie. the whole of the remainder of their natural life in order to repent for the offence committed by them. The convicts in the present case do not deserve to assimilate with the society, as it would be difficult to survive in a society of such men who look upon women with derision, depravity, contempt and objects of desire… The conduct of the accused, and their bold confession to the survivor that she is not the first one to satisfy their lust, is sufficient to hold that there is no scope for ‘reformation’ or ‘rehabilitation’.”
“Every day the rising sun would remind them of the barbaric acts committed by them and the night would lay them with a heavy heart filled with guilt and remorse. We therefore feel that a sentence of rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of their natural life without any remission, parole or furlough would meet the ends of justice,” it held.