Pune crime files: Life imprisonment, then death penalty and life imprisonment again for man who raped and killed minor | Pune news

The case dates back to October 24, 1999, when Haresh Rajput lured a minor girl who was playing near his house with chocolate. He raped the girl and strangled her.

At that time, Rajput’s family was at work, so he wrapped the girl’s body in a piece of cloth and placed it under his cot. He spent the next few hours drinking alcohol and watching television.

When the girl’s siblings and parents could not find her anywhere, her mother contacted the local police station.

When Rajput’s son and mother came home, he told them that he had murdered the girl but threatened them not to tell anyone about the incident. When Rajput was sleeping, his then 13-year-old son went to the police station and revealed everything. The police and the minor girl’s family came to Rajput’s home and he was arrested. A medical report confirmed that she had been murdered by strangulation after a sexual assault.

The trial in the case was held in a Pune court where the prosecution examined 12 witnesses. The court found Rajput guilty of offences under Sections 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He challenged the court’s order in the Bombay High Court. The state also petitioned the Supreme Court for a reduction in sentence. After examining the facts and circumstances, the Supreme Court found that this was a suitable case for reduction of life imprisonment to death.

While awarding the death penalty to the accused on January 1, 2008, the Supreme Court observed, “An undeserved leniency or liberal attitude of not imposing appropriate punishment in such cases would amount to giving indulgence or even encouragement to potential criminals. Society cannot tolerate such grave threats any longer. The courts must hear the loud cry of society for justice in cases of the heinous crime of rape and impose appropriate punishment.”

Rajput then appealed to the Supreme Court, which on September 20, 2011, quashed the death sentence and restored the life sentence. “We find no valid ground to challenge the well-founded judgments of the lower courts in relation to the conviction of the appellant and we confirm his conviction under Sections 302 and 376 of the Penal Code. As far as the sentence is concerned… the case does not fall under the ‘rarest
in rare cases. The Supreme Court was not entitled to increase the sentence,” the Supreme Court decision states.