Bombay HC confirms death sentence to trio who raped, killed teen

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday confirmed death penalty for three men from Ahmednagar district who had raped a 16-year-old girl multiple times and tortured

The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday confirmed death penalty for three men from Ahmednagar district who had raped a 16-year-old girl multiple times and tortured her to death in 2014. In view of the brutalities committed by Santosh Lonkar, 38; Mangesh Lonkar, 32; and Dattatray Shinde, 29; the court said that the convicts cannot be allowed to return to society.

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The division bench of TV Nalawade and justice KK Sonawane said that the case had met all the requirements to be considered the rarest of a rare case. “Circumstances show that it is a perversity of extreme nature. The conduct of the accused shows that there is no possibility of their reformation and they do not deserve to live in any society. The society would not like to have such members,” said the bench. The bench noted that one of the three men was married and had two children.

The victim, a resident of Parner tehsil in Ahmednagar, attended a school located one-and-half kilometre away from her village. The convicts were residents of the village where the girl’s school was located. On August 22, 2014, she was walking back home when the convicts intercepted the girl at a secluded spot and raped her multiple times in a span of 45 minutes. They also tortured and injured her till she died.

The police had examined 32 witnesses in the case. On February 15, 2017, a special court under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act had sentenced the men to death. On Thursday, the court confirmed the death sentence handed down to the three men.