SC rejects plea to review death sentence of 4-year-old girl's rapist, killer

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a review petition by Vasanta Sampat Dupare seeking the recall of its November 2014 order upholding his conviction and death sentence for raping a four-year-old girl and then battering her to death.

Affirming its November 26, 2014 judgment upholding the 55-year-old Dupare's conviction and death sentence, the bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said: "Having taken an overall view of the matter, in our considered view, no case is made out to take a different view in the matter."

Dismissing the review petition, the bench in its judgment said, " ... 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 court said this noting that Dupare, after November 26, 2014, judgment upholding his death sentence, has completed Bachelors Preparatory Programme from Indira Gandhi National Open University enabling him to prepare for Bachelor level study and that he has also completed the Gandhi Vichar Pariksha.

The court also noted that Dupare had participated in drawing competition organised sometime in January 2016 and his jail record was without any blemish.

The top court by its November 26, 2014, verdict had said: "We find, not only the rape was committed in a brutal manner but murder was also committed in a barbaric manner. The rape of a minor girl child is nothing but a monstrous burial of her dignity in the darkness."

Holding that the case came under the category of rarest of rare cases, the court had said: "It is inconceivable from the perspective of the society that a married man aged about two scores and seven make a four year minor innocent girl child the prey of his lust and deliberately cause her death. A helpless and defenceless child gets raped and murdered because of the acquaintance of the appellant (Dupare) with the people of the society."

"It is a crime against the holy body of a girl child and the soul of the society and such a crime is aggravated by the manner in which it has been committed. The nature of the crime and the manner in which it has been committed speaks about its uncommonness. The crime speaks of depravity, degradation and uncommonality," said the judgment.

Dupare was convicted and sentenced to death by the Nagpur Additional Sessions Judge on February 23, 2012 and the sentence confirmed by the Bombay High Court.

--IANS

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