Life imprisonment, then death penalty and life imprisonment again for man who raped and killed minor girl | News from Pune

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 then strangled her.

At that time, Rajput’s family members were at work, so he wrapped the girl’s body in a piece of cloth and placed it under his cot. Then he drank alcohol and watched television for a few hours.

When the girl went missing, her siblings and parents searched for her. Unable to find her, her mother went to the local police station to seek help. When his son and mother returned home, Rajput told them about the girl’s murder but threatened them not to tell anyone about the incident.

However, after Rajput went to sleep, his then 13-year-old son went to the police station and informed the police about the murder committed by his father. Soon after, the police and the family members of the minor girl came to Rajput’s house and he was arrested for rape and murder.

After the girl’s body was recovered from Rajput’s house, a medical report confirmed that she had been murdered by strangulation following a sexual assault.

The trial in the case took place 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 decision of the court in the Bombay High Court. The state also approached the High Court seeking an increase in sentence. After examining the facts and circumstances, the High Court found that this was a suitable case for an increase in sentence from life imprisonment to death.

While passing the death sentence on 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 leniency to or even encouraging 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 appealed to the Supreme Court, which on September 20, 2011, quashed the death sentence and reinstated the life sentence.

“We find no valid reason to challenge the well-founded judgments of the lower courts in relation to the conviction of the appellant and we affirm his conviction under Sections 302 and 376 of the Penal Code. As regards the part of sentence, in view of the aforesaid law, we are of the considered opinion that the case does not fall within the ‘rarest of rare cases’. The Supreme Court was not justified in aggravating the sentence,” the Supreme Court’s order said.