Death sentence awarded to a man convicted for raping and killing a 4 year old girl

Supreme Court: In a heinous crime committed by a married man aged 47 where he made a 4 year old girl the prey of his lust and deliberately caused her death, the 3-judge bench of Dipak Misra, R.F. Nariman and U.U. Lalit unhesitatingly held that the case fell within the rarest of the rare category, thereby, awarding death sentence to the accused.

The accused, who was a friend of the neighbour of the victim, had lured her with chocolate and had a forcible sexual intercourse with her before finally killing her by causing head injury by using 2 heavy stones. The accused, through his counsel Sanjiv Das, had alleged that he was being framed in the case owing to personal animosity; however, the Court rejected the said contention. The Court said that the injuries caused on the minor girl are likely to send a chill in the spine of the society and shiver in the marrows of human conscience. Holding that the act of the accused was barbaric in nature, the Court also took note of the coolness of the accused that was evident from the fact he had washed his clothes and took proper care of hiding the things after the assault. The contention that the accused was mid-aged and hence could be reformed, was thus rejected by the Court stating that there had been no remorse on the part of the accused and also that he was a history-sheeter who had number of cases pending against him. Hence, the Court held that there were no mitigating circumstances to be taken care of while awarding death sentence to the accused.

In the case where Shankar Chillarge represented the State of Maharashtra, the Court held that when a helpless and defenceless child gets raped and murdered by a man she considered to be her uncle, it is not only betrayal of an individual trust but destruction and devastation of social trust. Vasanta Sampat Dupare v. State of Maharshtra, 2014 SCC OnLine SC 942, decided on 26.11.2014