The Karnataka high court has upheld the death sentence awarded to three men convicted for the gang rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, holding that the crime was “barbaric and inhuman,” and fell within the “rarest of rare category”
In a February 6 order, a bench of justice HP Sandesh and Venkatesh Naik T described the offence as a “diabolical” act that shocked the collective conscience of society, and must be curbed with “iron hands.”
The court said that imposing a lesser sentence on the convicts will send a wrong message to society and the public at large, undermine the gravity of the offence and fail to serve the goals of deterrence and societal denunciation in cases involving brutal sexual violence against children.
According to the trial court order, the incident took place in November 2021. The victim’s parents were migrant workers residing within the premises of a tile factory in the outskirts of Mangaluru, and the three convicts also worked at the same premises. They had been planning to rape the victim for months and on the day of the incident, while she was playing outside with her siblings, they lured the victim with some sweets and candies, took her inside a room without CCTV cameras, and took turns to rape her. When the child screamed, they covered her mouth and strangled her to death. The convicts, along with the fourth accused, who absconded during trial while out on bail, then dumped the dead body in a drain and covered it with bricks.
Confirming the death reference under Section 366 of the Criminal Procedure Code and dismissing the appeals filed by the convicts, the high court held that the prosecution had successfully established an unbroken chain of circumstances pointing to their guilt. The bench noted that the evidence on record — including forensic material, CCTV footage, witness testimonies and medical evidence — clearly demonstrated “premeditation, collective participation and an attempt to destroy evidence after the crime.”
{{/usCountry}}Confirming the death reference under Section 366 of the Criminal Procedure Code and dismissing the appeals filed by the convicts, the high court held that the prosecution had successfully established an unbroken chain of circumstances pointing to their guilt. The bench noted that the evidence on record — including forensic material, CCTV footage, witness testimonies and medical evidence — clearly demonstrated “premeditation, collective participation and an attempt to destroy evidence after the crime.”
{{/usCountry}}The court said that after weighing both aggravating and mitigating factors, it had found no meaningful mitigating circumstances apart from the young age of the accused, which by itself was not determinative. Applying the constitutional requirement of respect for human life under Article 21, while also following the principles laid down by the Supreme Court, the high court held that where crimes against children or helpless women are “exceptionally cruel, inhuman, and brutal,” the balance tilts decisively in “favour of the death penalty.”