Bombay High Court confirms death penalty to Vashi rapist killer

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death penalty awarded to a Vashi resident by a lower court for raping and killing a five-year-old girl. Dattatray Rokde was convicted in June 2013 under the new Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, in a trial that lasted just two months.

A division bench of Justice V K Tahilaramani and Justice V L Achliya accepted prosecution's argument that Rokde was habituated to committing heinous crimes. The court said the man is a 'menace' to the society and deserves the harshest punishment. As he stood in the courtroom with an expressionless face, Rokde didn't seek mercy. He only pleaded that he was unwell.

Rokde, who was jobless for four years, kidnapped the minor from his neighbourhood on January 22, 2013. He took the child to his house where he raped and killed her. The girl's body was found the next day.

Two days later, the APMC police arrested Rokde after his son informed that he suspected involvement of his father in the crime. He was charged under section 302, (murder) 376 (rape) and 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code among various other sections.

During the trial, which began in April in a special Thane court, 27 people testified against Rokde, with his wife and son being the prime witnesses. The court handed down the death penalty to Rokde on June 6. Rokde's family had abandoned him soon after his arrest.

In the HC, Rokde's lawyer Abhaykumar Apte argued that his client didn't want to kill the child. The girl died of suffocation as Rokde had put his hand on her mouth to prevent her from screaming, said Apte, contending that it was a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

However, Additional Public Prosecutor Usha Kejriwal argued that Rokde had a history of committing crimes against women. She said the man had tried a rape a neighbour in Murbad in 2004, but escaped police action after his family pleaded with the village panchayat to spare him. The family was then thrown out of the village.

Upholding the death penalty, the court said, "The way the convict carried out the rape and murder and his behaviour afterwards shows he had no remorse. He is of perverse mind and case falls in the category of 'Rarest of Rare'.