In 2014, the Bombay High Court had upheld the death penalty awarded by the Additional Sessions Judge (Nagpur) to Vasant Sampat Dupare. In its judgment, the court had observed the crime to be "diabolical and barbaric".
A Nagpur man, who raped and stoned a four-year-old in 2008, will be hanged to death, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday. A bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra, Rohinton Nariman and UU Lalit "did not find any mitigating circumstances in favour of the accused to tilt the balance in his favour for awarding lesser punishment".
In 2014, the Bombay High Court had upheld the death penalty awarded by the Additional Sessions Judge (Nagpur) to Vasant Sampat Dupare. In its judgment, the court had observed the crime to be "diabolical and barbaric".
It had further said, "the appalling cruelty shown by him to the minor girl child is extremely shocking and it gets accentuated, when his age is taken into consideration. It was not committed under any mental stress or emotional disturbance and it is difficult to comprehend that he would not commit such acts and would be reformed or rehabilitated."
"We have given anxious consideration to the material on record but find that the aggravating circumstances namely the extreme depravity and the barbaric manner in which the crime was committed and the fact that the victim was a helpless girl of four years clearly outweigh the mitigating circumstances now brought on record," the apex court said while dismissing the review petition filed by Vasant Sampat Dupare.
Last year the Supreme Court had agreed to review Dupare's review petition when he claimed that he wasn't given a fair chance at trial.
The counsels for the petitioner had submitted that Dupare, now 55, had completed his bachelors from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and he was well-behaved in jail. However, the court dismissed these arguments and observed that the appellant had shown no remorse for his actions.
In 2008, the then 47-year-old man had lured his friend's four-year-old daughter on the pretext of buying her chocolates. After purchasing the sweet from a nearby grocery store, Dupare took advantage of the child's "absolute innocence" and faith in her "uncle" and took her to a place on his bicycle where he first raped her then batter here with two heavy stones.
In their 2014 judgment, the court had observed, "The injuries caused on the minor girl are likely to send a chill in the spine of the society and shiver in the marrows of human conscience."
"The petitioner allegedly lured the victim by giving her chocolates, kidnapped her and after satisfying his lust caused crushing injuries to her with the help of stones weighing about 8.5 kg and 7.5 kg," the judgment read.
The court had then found that, "The barbaric act of the appellant does not remotely show any concern for the precious life of a young minor child who had really not seen life. The criminality of the conduct of the appellant is not only depraved and debased, but can have a menacing effect on the society. It is calamitous."
"The rape of a minor girl child is nothing but a monstrous burial of her dignity in the darkness. It is a crime against the holy body of a girl child and the soul of society and such a crime is aggravated by the manner in which it has been committed," the bench found.
However, Dupare can now approach the Maharashtra Governor, who has the authority to commute the death penalty. If that fails, he will have to approach the President.
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