No other sentence but death: Court
UNPARALLELED Judge said he did consider mercy plea owing to their age and need to reform, but aggravating factors outweighed mitigating factors
NEW DELHI: Delivering its verdict in the December 16 case, the special court said the gang rape and murder of the 23-yearold paramedic was “beastly” and “unparalleled in terms of brutality”. It said the convicts could not have been given any other sentence but death.
Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna said he did consider the request of the accused for mercy, considering their age and the fact that they needed to be a chance to reform, but the aggravating factors far outweighed mitigating ones as the crime was “diabolical and revolting”.
“The facts show that the entire intestine of the victim was perforated, sprayed and cut open due to repeated insertions of rods and hands. The convicts, in the most barbaric manner, pulled out her internal organs with their bare hands as well as by rods, thus exhibiting extreme mental perversion not worthy of human condonation,” the court said.
“The gravity of the incident depicts hair-raising beastly and unparalleled behaviour. Subjecting the victim to inhuman acts of torture before her death had not only shocked the collective conscience but calls for withdrawal of the protective arm of the community around convicts. This ghastly act of the convicts definitely fits this case in the bracket of rarest of rare cases,” said Judge Khanna.
Observing that the court had to look into factors such as “society’s abhorrence, extreme indignation and antipathy to certain types of cases”, the court said: “Crime of such nature against a helpless woman require exemplary punishment.”
The judge said “the unprovoked crime demonstrated exceptional depravity of mind” and noted that the injuries inflicted on the girl’s body, including the bite marks, showed “the beastly behaviour of convicts”.
Terming her injuries “unparalleled”, he said: “The brutality caused to her internal organs is extreme as is evident from the medical evidence on record and hence, the act of convicts calls for extreme penalty.”