Even as there is a nationwideoutrage and demand for death to rapists, the Supreme Court hadcommuted the capital punishment to life imprisonment for ayoung man who raped a pregnant women and killed her greatmother-in-law on the ground that the accused was drunk and notin a normal state of mind.
Three days before the brutal gangrape and assault of a23-year-old girl in a moving bus in Delhi that had led to acountrywide outcry, the apex court was of the view that themental condition of an accused be examined before putting theoffence in the rarest of the rare category.
The court had commuted the death sentence to life term ofa convict in Pune, who had raped the woman and killed herrelative on the ground that he was drunk at the time ofcommitting the offence.
A bench of justices Swatanter Kumar (now retired) andMadan B Lokur had said the manner in which the crime wascommitted, the mental condition of accused must be examinedbefore putting the offence in the rarest of rare category.
"It is not only the crime and its various facets whichare the foundation for formation of special reasons ascontemplated under Section 354(3) of the CrPC (pertaining todeath sentence) for imposing death penalty but it is also thecriminal, his background," the bench had said.
In the case, convict Sainath Kailash Abhang (then 23-year- old) had, on September 10, 2007, entered the woman'shouse in Pune and had killed her. He had then mercilesslychopped off the wrist of her left hand and four fingers of theright hand.
After committing the gruesome act, he repeatedlyassaulted a pregnant relative of the deceased and raped her.
The court after going through all the evidences,including the statement of the injured lady, who said theconvict was drunk, had granted him the relief.
Strongly reacting to the court's recent judgement, thevictim's family today said the perpetrator of the crime had"no right to live".
Speaking on behalf of the family, advocate D Y Jadhav,who had fought the case as public prosecutor in Pune sessionscourt which had awarded death penalty to the accused that waslater upheld by the High court, told PTI, " This was one ofthe rarest of the rare cases. My client was very keen on deathpenalty to the perpetrator of the heinous crime and isdisappointed."