Nirbhaya Case: Supreme Court upholds death sentence of four convicts

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, DH News Service, May 5 2017: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the death penalty awarded to four persons in the rape cum murder of 23 year old girl on December 16, 2012 in Delhi.

A three- judge bench presided over by Justice Dipak Misra said the devilish manner in which the crime was committed was humanly inconceivable and it has shaken the collective conscience of the society.

"We are compelled to hold that the High Court and the trial court correctly arrived at the conclusion that no penalty other than the death sentence would meet the end of Justice," the bench, also comprising Justice R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan said.

Justice Banumathi passed a separate but concurring verdict in the case, that has triggered massive outrage across the country and drew international attention.

Pronouncing the verdict in a packed courtroom, the apex court dealt with comprehensively the evidence produced by Delhi police, DNA profiling, fingerprints and found them as impeccable.

The court agreed with senior advocate Sidharth Luthra representing Delhi police that there was no reason for police to rope in accused to implicate them in the case. It accepted his plea that the investigation was flawless.

The court also said the aggravating factors brought on record far outweigh the mitigating factors like young age and good conduct in custody canvassed by the convicts Vinay, Akshay Kumar, Pawan and Mukesh.

In her verdict, Justice Banumathi said the poor background of the convicts and their good conduct in jail could not be considered as mitigating factors. She suggested for bringing in gender sensitisation in school curriculum, saying stringent law was enough.

Justice Banumathi said though women were getting education but the crime against them was also increasing in the society.

Just as the apex court pronounced its verdict, a group of activists and parents of the victim could not hide a sense of relief. Some of the activists even expressed their joy by clapping, rarely seen inside the court rooms.

The Delhi High Court had on March 13, 2014 confirmed the capital punishment to four convicts awarded by the trial court.

The victim, a 23-year-old paramedic, was brutally assaulted and gang raped by six persons in a moving bus in south Delhi and thrown out of the vehicle with her male friend on the night of December 16, 2012. She had died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.

The prime accused, Ram Singh, was found dead in a cell in Tihar Jail in March 2013 and proceedings against him were abated. The other accused was found minor and faced proceedings before juvenile court