Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: February 11, 2022 at 13:56 IST
The Death Sentence of Mohammad Aabed, who Murdered a 4-year old girl, was reduced to Life Imprisonment by the Bombay High Court after observing that the Extra-Judicial Confession given by him showed his repentance for the act he committed.
The Bench comprised of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Prithiviraj Chavan. The Appellant was represented by Advocates Payoshi Roy and YugMohit Chaudhry and the Complainant was represented by Advocate Priyanka Chavan. Additional Public Prosecutor Arfan Sait appeared for the State of Maharashtra.
The Bench stated, “The fact that he Confessed about his Guilt would show that he had repented for the act committed by him.”
The Court noted that the Convict made the Confession to satisfy his vendetta. The confession was made voluntarily and not under threat or inducement. It carried a presumption of truth and was not a weak piece of Evidence.
Aabed was Sentenced to death by the Trial Court for Kidnapping, Raping and Murdering a minor girl. He committed the Offence eight months after the girl’s father had slapped him for not paying Rs 1,500.
The Maharashtra Government approached the Court for confirming Aabed’s Sentence for Offences committed under Sections 302 (Murder), 363, 364, 366A (Kidnapping), and 376 (Rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was also Sentenced for Offences under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The High Court examined the Evidence and concluded that the Appellant committed the Offences out of vengeance because of the humiliation he had faced, there was no material to show that Sexual Assault was committed.
Therefore, the Court set aside the Conviction under Section 376 IPC and POCSO Act but maintained the Conviction under remaining provisions of IPC. However, the Court clarified, “The act committed by him is brutal and deserves no leniency.”
The Court discussed whether Death Penalty was the only punishment though the act committed by the Appellant was heinous and barbaric. The Court stated that the Case was not the rarest of rare case and changed the Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment.
The Court further stated that the Appellant was not a hardened Criminal and there was hope that he could be reformed, rehabilitated and reintegrated into the society.