Odisha HC commutes death sentence for rape

Reduction: The Orissa High Court on Monday commuted the death sentence awarded to one Mohammed Mustak to life imprisonment with rider.

A special POCSO court in Cuttack had convicted Mustak of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl in a village under Salepur police station and sentenced him to death on September 19, 2019.

The Supreme Court said he must complete a minimum sentence of 20 years before applying for remission, which will only be considered on the merits, and if no remission is granted, the sentence will mean life imprisonment for the rest of his life. The state government had applied to the Supreme Court to confirm the death sentence, while Mustak had also appealed against the trial court’s verdict.

While Justice SK Sahoo and Justice RK Pattanaik acquitted 31-year-old Mustak of the rape charge but confirmed his murder conviction, he said that during the course of the trial the court specifically asked the public prosecutor whether this was the case was whether there was a criminal history against the applicant and whether there was anything wrong with his behavior while in prison, to which he replied in the negative.

The court also said it was undisputed that the applicant was married and had children. The prosecutor has not previously provided him with any material showing that there is no possibility of reform and rehabilitation.

“Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future – awakening a touch of reformative potential in even the most heinous crime.” The human endeavor should be to hate the sin, not the sinner. With a life sentence there is still life, with a death sentence there is only death,” the judge noted. “Therefore, we are not inclined to award death penalty for the offense under Section 302 of the IPC, especially when we have acquitted the appellant of the charges under Section 376-AB of the IPC as well as Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO). . Act (sexual assault),” the bench further explained.