SC commutes death penalty of rape and murder accused

The Supreme Court has reduced the death sentence of a man accused of rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Rajasthan. In doing so, the Court has stated that extreme penalty cannot be imposed in the case as it is not a fit case for the same. In the instant case, the accused had been acquitted by the trial court from charges of rape, kidnapping and taking a person beyond Indian boundaries, and sexual intercourse with wife during separation. However, the trial court had convicted him for committing murder under the Indian Penal Code and for penetrative sexual assault under Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act and had awarded capital punishment to him. An appeal was made by the accused against the trial court's order which was dismissed by the High Court while upholding the death penalty. The High Court had stated that the accused lured the 8-year-old with a chocolate, who trusted the accused treating him as her maternal uncle, however, the accused, in breach of all limits of trust, murdered the minor girl only to satisfy his physical desire. In light of the HC judgment and considering the entire evidence, the SC has reduced the death sentence awarded to the accused to life imprisonment.