E-Paper
2 Haryana youths get death penalty for rape, murder of differently abled minor
Issuing a warning to potential offenders who plan to perpetrate such offences, the special fast track court headed by additional sessions judge (ASJ) Prashant Rana said that in case they commit such offences with children, they would be signing their death warrants and the courts of law would simply execute those warrants.
A special fast track court in Palwal on Wednesday sentenced two youngsters to death after they were held guilty of gang-raping and brutally murdering a nine-year-old with hearing and speech impairment in 2020.
“They shall be hanged by neck till they are dead, subject to the confirmation of the sentence by the Punjab and Haryana high court,” reads the June 7 sentencing order of the special fast track court headed by additional sessions judge (ASJ) Prashant Rana, holding the trial of offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Issuing a warning to potential offenders who plan to perpetrate such offences, the court said that in case they commit such offences with children, they would be signing their death warrants and the courts of law would simply execute those warrants.
The two convicted youths, Ajay, 21, and Parsottam, 27, whose village falls under the jurisdiction of Hodal police station in Palwal were arrested in 2020 after the police booked them under Sections 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Indian Penal Code and Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The court sentenced the two convicts to multiple death sentences for offence punishable under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC and for commission of offence punishable under Section 6 of the POCSO Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault.
It also ordered that an amount of ₹30 lakh be granted to the dependents of the victim as final compensation as per the Victim Compensation Scheme of 2020.
‘Case falls under rarest of rare category’
It is the considered opinion of this court that apart from considering the rarest of the rare test, crime test and criminal test, there should also be tests of legislative intent and trauma caused to the family of the victim. There is no reason to believe that the convicts would be reformed and would not be a menace to the society.
They do not deserve any mercy, the court said.
The ASJ said the two convicts’ gang-raped and brutally murdered the nine-year old girl who suffered from speech and hearing impairment, besides intellectual disabilities.
“The victim’s father also suffers from physically disability to the extent of 86%. He suffers from post-polio-paralysis and his right leg is non-functional. He works as a labourer.
The victim’s mother also suffers from speech and hearing impairment. She also suffers from locomotive disability of one leg and has an intellectual disability. The younger sister and brother of the victim are also differently abled. The family comes under below the poverty line and are struggling to make both ends meet,” the fast-track court said.
The judge said that the manner of commission of crime was extremely brutal and barbaric. “The convicts repeatedly raped the victim after tying her hands. She got unconscious after being raped thrice. Subsequently, both the convicts burnt her eyes with beedis and later strangulated her to death. The victim died on the spot and her body lay in the field for a day and the entire night. Multiple bite marks were found on the victim’s cheeks. There were multiple contusions on her face and left arm. The thyroid cartilage in the neck was fractured,” the court said in the sentencing order.
‘The convicts never showed any remorse’
The special POCSO court said the victim was helpless and vulnerable and trusted the convicts as both were her neighbours and were like elders to her.
“There was no motive for them to commit the barbaric act except for their carnal and mental perversions. They never showed any guilt or remorse on account of their barbaric deeds right from the inception of the investigation till the conclusion of the trial.
The convicts took all care to commit the barbaric acts of gang rape and murder of the child in a pre-planned and cold-blooded manner. It was deliberately committed with a child with speech impairment as she wouldn’t be able speak the name of the offenders. Then her eyes were burnt so that she is unable to identify the offenders. The convicts still had doubts that she might somehow convey their identities so they strangulated her to death. However, the evidence has established the guilt of the convicts without any doubt by way of DNA reports, blood reports and forensic reports.
