2015 murder: HC commutes death sentence of convicts to life in prison

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty handed down to Amir Shaikh and Sachin Raut, for killing a woman and crippling

The Bombay high court (HC) on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death penalty handed down to Amir Shaikh and Sachin Raut, for killing a woman and crippling her son during a robbery in July 2015.

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On July 30, 2015, air conditioner mechanics Shaikh and Raut, both aged 23, broke into the home of a local shopkeeper at Bhandara. While robbing the house, they killed the shopkeeper’s 30-year-old wife by assaulting her with a hammer. The duo also assaulted her eight-year-old son, who survived the attack but suffered brain damage and cannot walk or talk properly as a result. Shaikh and Raut were arrested on the same day.

Three years later, on June 30, 2018, the duo was convicted and sentenced to death by the district judge of Bhandara. Earlier this week, the division bench of justices PN Deshmukh and Pushpa Ganediwala upheld the convictions, but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. The judges said the case did not warrant the extreme penalty.

“In our considered view 4-5 blows with hammer on head cannot be branded as a brutal, diabolic and heinous crime,” said the bench, adding that though Shaikh and Raut had attempted other robberies, there wasn’t evidence to suggest they were “hardened criminals.”