In Sangli district of Maharashtra in June 2010, a 24-year-old convict, sentenced to death for raping and killing a nine-year-old girl has been produced before the Bombay High Court which decided to hear arguments on confirmation of sentence from next week.
A division bench of Justices N H Patil and A R Joshi directed the police to produce Paswan, who is lodged at the Yerwada jail in Pune, before it on January 22 when day-to-day hearing on confirmation of sentence would begin.
The convict, hailing from Bihar, informed the court that he had written a letter through jail urging appeal against his sentence.
The judges informed him that his appeal was not on record at present and that they would enquirer from the registrar about its status.
The judges also assured him that in case he needed a lawyer, they would provide one through the legal aid committee of the High Court.
The incident dates back to June 21, 2010 when the victim had gone missing from her house in Bedag village in Sangli district. The victim’s father, a labourer in a farm, had lodged a missing complaint.
During investigation, police learnt that the victim was last seen with the accused who used to live in the neighboring house.
According to prosecution, when the accused was detained and interrogated, he revealed that he had raped the girl and murdered her and then dumped her body in a well.
The lower court, while awarding Paswan the death penalty, had observed that the accused had committed a heinous crime of raping an innocent child and that it was a “cold blooded murder.”
“After satisfying his lust the accused threw the girl into the well. An innocent girl was ravished by the accused for his lust. The accused is a menace to the society and there are no chances of reform. He does not deserve any leniency,” the sessions court had observed.
It also held that the social impact such incidents have should also be considered. “When such cases are rampant a message should be given to the society that such heinous crimes will result in extreme punishment.”
