LI Network
Published on: November 28, 2023 at 00:10 IST
The Madras High Court declined to affirm the death sentence given by the Trial Court to a man convicted of repeatedly raping his minor daughter, deeming the act ‘gruesome’ but not falling within the ‘rarest of rare’ category warranting capital punishment.
Justices SS Sundar and Sundar Mohan ruled that while the act committed was heinous, it didn’t meet the criteria of being a ‘rarest of rare cases’ for imposing the death penalty, as outlined in precedents like Bachan Singh’s case and Machhi Singh’s case.
State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohammed Jinnah represented the State, while Senior Counsel R Rajarathinam and Senior Counsel Abudukumar Rajarathinam appeared for the accused.
The case involved the parents of the victim, accused of sexually assaulting her from the age of seven. The father allegedly committed penetrative sexual assault, resulting in the victim’s pregnancy.
Despite the victim’s complaints to her mother, no action was taken until she confided in her teacher, leading to a police complaint and subsequent arrests under IPC and POCSO Act charges.
The Trial Court sentenced the father to death and the mother to life imprisonment without remission. The High Court acknowledged the father’s offence but reduced the sentence to life imprisonment, stating that the ‘rarest of rare’ standard wasn’t met.
Additionally, the mother’s intent to aid the father’s offences was refuted, although she was found guilty of not reporting the crime. Consequently, her sentence was equivalent to the time already served due to her helpless situation.
The Court relied on the victim’s statement and the provisions of the POCSO Act to refrain from further inquiry despite minor contradictions in her statements.
It concluded that the victim’s testimony was credible and decided against conducting additional examination or seeking additional evidence.