Delhi HC commutes death penalty of man who killed father

The death sentence of a man, who had killed his father as sacrifice to a deity in 2008, has been reduced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court.
Dismissing Jitender's plea, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Pratibha Rani said before awarding death penalty the trial court should have considered the circumstances forcing him to hack his own father.
The bench, however, upheld the trial court's conviction order against him while converting the death penalty to life imprisonment.
"He (Jitender) cannot be termed as an irredeemable murderer who is beyond the pale of reformation. Consequently, the court does not confirm the sentence of death imposed upon him. It (court), however substitutes it (death) with life imprisonment. The conviction is however, affirmed."

After examining the prosecution evidence, the bench referred to several Supreme Court judgements on human sacrifice.
It said, "The deposition of witnesses also suggests that the deceased himself was a sewadar in the temple. These facts establish that the accused was a strong believer in Goddess Devi...
"Apart from facts, the evidence on record also points to gory details, such as mutilation of the body, after the beheading of the deceased, and the accused placing the severed head in the temple...These surrounding circumstances, in the opinion of the court conclusively prove that the accused had indulged in ritual, human sacrifice of his father," the bench also said.

The trial court in January last year had awarded death penalty to Jitender for the "brutal" killing of his father.