HC defers order on sentence of Pune BPO rape-murder accused

The accused -- Purushottam Borate and Pradeep Kokade -- were awarded death penalty in March this year by the sessions court in Pune. It has now come up before the HC for confirmation of sentence.

The division bench of Justices V M Kanade and P D Kode yesterday upheld the conviction, but said they would like to hear both the prosecution and the defence on the sentence.

"The question of awarding death sentence is very serious. It is a matter of life and death. We need to hear prosecution and defence again on mitigating circumstances," Justice Kanade said.

The duo were convicted under IPC sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 364 (kidnapping), 376 (rape) and 302 (murder).

"The court needs to be sure whether the case falls under the bracket of rarest of rare and deserves harsh punishment of death. Just on the ground of brutality a case cannot be said to be rarest of rare," Justice Kode had said.

Today, while recording observations on the conviction, HC said the prosecution had established "beyond doubt" the guilt of the two. "The accused abducted the victim using deceitful means and took her to a secluded spot and committed pre-planned act of rape and murder," the court said.

The victim, a female Wipro BPO employee, got into the regular cab contracted by the company to report for her night duty on November 1, 2007 in a Pune suburb. The cab driver Borate, accompanied by his friend Kokade, changed the route and took her to a remote place where she was raped by the two, and strangled with her dupatta.

They also disfigured her face, to conceal her identity. (More)