HC commutes death penalty of 3 family members

The Delhi High Court today commuted into life term the death penalty of three members of a family, including the husband, for killing his wife saying the case did not fall under "the rarest of rare" category warranting the capital punishment.
"No doubt, in the present case, there has been homicidal death of the woman and the cause of death was opined as the combined effect of asphyxia produced by manual strangulation and a stab injury over the chest. Yet this court is not persuaded to hold that the crime can be characterized as a 'rarest of rare' case", a bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Mukta Gupta said.

The bench commuted the death sentence of Surender Singh, his brother Narender Singh and their mother Lakhpati Devi.
They were handed down the capital punishment by the trial court for killing Urmila, the wife of Surendra.
The High Court said the trial court failed to apply the law explained in the decisions of the Supreme Court with regard to award of capital punishment.
Awarding the life term, it said the trial court has not analyzed the role of each of the accused and the "mitigating factors vis-a-vis each of them."

"The court declines to confirm the death sentence awarded to each of accused. The impugned order on sentence is modified by sentencing each of the accused to life imprisonment for the offence under Section 302 (murder) of IPC read with 34 of IPC," the high court said in its order.

The prosecution had submitted the present case fell under the category of "rarest of rare" case as a helpless woman was murdered by the three accused in the "most brutal and dastardly manner".
"Unless the court is satisfied that there are absolutely no mitigating circumstances and that the case falls under the category of 'rarest of rare', it should not award the death sentence," the bench said.
Urmila was murdered by her husband and other two relatives on the intervening night of October 15/16, 2007 in front of her three children when she had demanded transfer of a piece of land in the name of her children.