MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the death penalty awarded to a 30-year-old man for raping and killing a three-year-old girl, noting that he had committed a gruesome and barbaric act and the safety of a girl child is of paramount importance to a society.
A division bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Prithiviraj Chavan confirmed the death penalty awarded to Ramkirat Goud by a special court designated to hear cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act, in March 2019.
The bench noted that the act committed by the convict was "gruesome, barbaric and revolts human conscience", and it falls under the category of rarest of rare.
"It is the safety of a girl child which is of paramount importance to a society," the court said.
"The act of the accused is gruesome and committed in a diabolic manner. It is a heinous offence. It is unimaginable that a cheerful, frolicking child enjoying with her pet would provoke the feelings of lust in a man, who is a father of two daughters and a son," the court said.
The perversity in the mind of the accused was apparent, the court said, adding that it has personally spoken to the accused and he has not shown any remorse.
Goud who worked as a watchman in a building in the same vicinity as the victim's house, is accused of raping and then killing the three-year-old in September 2013 in Thane district.
The body of the victim was recovered from a nearby mud pond.
"A bud of rose was crushed before it bloomed, a kite was torn when about to fly, the budding flower was crushed to ashes and the kite took the soul away," the court said in its judgment.
The victim, who was playing with her little dog, was noticed by a knave man, who was driven by a desire of lust upon the sight of a little happy harmless child playing in her own world, it said.
The court noted that as per the autopsy report, the victim was brutally assaulted before she was killed.
The bench further stated that as per evidence submitted by the prosecution, the accused was seen last with the child who was found dead soon thereafter and that the dog was tied to the window of a room just next to the accused's house.
"In the present case, looking at the monstrous act of the convict, it is apparent that the appellant (Goud) had not, for a moment, thought of the precious life of the minor child. It did not strike him for a moment that he himself happens to be a father of two daughters, who are yet to see life," the judgment said.
Such incidents will send a chill down the spine of parents of every little girl before sending their "undefended, innocent, minor girl child to see the rainbow, as they would be scared as to whether she would fall prey to a monster" like the present one, it stated.