Rapist-killers of 8-year-old spared death

NEW DELHI: Amid the public outcry engendered by the Nithari killings, the Supreme Court overturned the death penalty awarded to two men who had raped an eight-year-old girl, decapitated her, and dumped her head in a rest house in Assam.

The trial court and the Gauhati high court ordered the extreme penalty for Bishnu Prasad Sinha and Putul Bora. But the apex court held that they deserved a lesser sentence because they had voluntarily confessed before a magistrate.

The court said another aspect that could not be overlooked was Sinha’s expression of repentance while making the confessional statement. “We, therefore, are of the opinion that imposition of punishment of rigorous imprisonment for life shall meet the ends of justice,” it said.