High Court commutes death sentence of man convicted of minor's rape and murder

MP | 2 Dec 2022 | KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court recently commuted death sentence of a man, who was convicted for raping and murdering a minor girl. 

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court noted that though the victim was killed in a gruesome manner, it cannot be categorized as the 'rarest of rare' test warranting a death sentence. 

"The victim had been raped and murdered. The manner in which the crime had been committed although gruesome cannot be said to come within the purview of rarest of rare cases. We could not convince ourselves that award of death penalty to the appellant in the facts of the present case was justified although, rape and murder had been established conclusively," the bench observed in its order. 

The 16-year-old victim had suffered aggravated sexual assault by the appellant before being killed. Hence, the Court while commuting death penalty imposed on the convict to life imprisonment and made it clear that he will not be eligible for remission of sentence for 25 years. 

"In such circumstances, we commute the death sentence awarded as against the appellant to life imprisonment without the possibility of remission for a period of 25 years from the date of his arrest in this police case, taking into account the age of the appellant, the age of the victim and the nature of the crime," the bench ordered. https://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/high-court-commutes-death-sentence-of-man-convicted-of-minors-rape-and-murder-500860