Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 31: In a historic judgment, Fast Track Court presided by Sessions Judge Sanjeev Gupta today awarded death penalty to Shanker, son of Vijay Lal of Madhya Pradesh for committing the rape and murder of eight years old girl.
According to the police case, on April 21, 2010 an information was received by Satwari Police regarding dead body of an unidentified girl of 7/8 years lying below the Digiana Puli. Accordingly, inquest proceedings under Section 174 CrPC were initiated. After receiving autopsy report of deceased with regard to cause of death and on the basis of other material collected during the inquest proceedings, the complicity of accused was found in the crime due to which a case FIR No. 127/2010 for offence under Sections 376/302 RPC was registered on July 29, 2010. The accused was arrested on August 5, 2010 and after completion of investigation challan was presented.
While awarding death penalty to Shanker, Presiding Officer Fast Track Court Sanjeev Gupta, after hearing Additional Public Prosecutor G S Charak appearing for the State whereas Advocate Rakesh Kumar (amicus-cuire) for the accused person, observed, “after drawing a balance sheet of the aggravating and mitigating circumstances for the purposes of determining whether the extreme sentence of death should be imposed upon the convict or not, I think, there is hardly only mitigating circumstances favouring him and the scale of justice only moves against him”.
While referring to a recent judgement of the Supreme Court, the Court said, “if for the extremely heinous crime of murder perpetrated in a very brutal manner that too without any provocation, most deterrent punishment is not given, the case of deterrent punishment will lose its relevance besides the common man will lose faith in the courts”.
The Court directed the State Government to pay compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of victim within one month.
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