INDIA: BOMBAY HIGH COURT SETS ASIDE DEATH PENALTY IN RAPE AND MURDER CASE; ACQUITS ACCUSED OF MURDER, UPHOLDS RAPE CHARGE

February 27, 2022:

The Bombay High Court on 23 February 2022 quashed the death sentence of a man convicted of killing and raping a girl on the ground that the accusation of murder could not be proven.
The HC, accordingly acquitted the Thane-based man, a labourer from charges of murder, however, confirmed the the sentence of life imprisonment handed down by the trial court for rape.A bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Prithviraj Chavan was hearing a plea filed by one Ashok Mukane, who was awarded death penalty for brutally killing a girl after raping her.
As per prosecution case, Mukane allegedly raped a young girl, a resident of Asangaon at an isolated place near the local railway tracks and due to her resistance killed her by hitting some blunt object on her head and brushing her head to a rough surface.
The bench, however, while considering of the material on record, noted that there weren't any abrasions or even an injury mark on Mukane's person. It also noted that his clothes too weren't torn, which is a usual case in a forcible rape case.
The bench further considered the fact that there wasn't any catching material on record to prove that Mukane killed the victim.
"There is no cogent and clear evidence brought on record by the prosecution to indicate that it was none other than Mukane, who had inflicted serious injuries on the person of the victim including smothering, compression of neck or hitting on her head with hard and blunt object. It is, therefore, difficult to construe that he was responsible for causing homicidal death of the victim," the bench said.