Bhubaneswar: Even as the country’s premier investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, demanded death penalty for convicted Sanjoy Roy in the RG Kar Medical college rape and murder case, the Additional District and Sessions judge Anirban Das sentenced ‘LIFE IMPRISONMENT’.
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The CBI has demanded death penalty in the case classifying it as “rarest of rare case.” But the District and sessions court refused to call the rape and murder a “rarest of rare” category.
And didn't award death sentence, because there is possibility of reformation on the part of the accused, if not possible Public Prosecutor should explain.
The 2024 RG Kar Rape and murder of a woman doctor inside the premises of the medical college and hospital had drawn a nationwide opprobrium reminding of the gory rape and attempted murder of Nirbhya in Delhi in 2012.
In 2012 rape and attempted murder of Nirbhaya, even Supreme Court had upheld the death penalty sentence on the 5 accused, flagging the case as the ‘rarest of the rare’ category.
However, in 2024 RG Kar rape and murder, the district and session’s court judge didn’t consider the case ‘rarest of rare’. WHY?
2012 NIRBHAYA MEDICAL REPORT
The Nirbhaya case medical report divulged the brutality committed.
- Nirbhaya suffered serious injuries to her abdomen, intestines and genitals following the assault by the accused, whereby, a blunt object (suspected to be the iron rod) may have been used for penetration, identified by police as wheel jack handle.
2024 RG KAR RAPE & MURDER MEDICAL REPORT
The autopsy report has the following.
- Report confirming sexual assault, said victim was strangulated to death.
- Deep wound observed on her genital tract, lips, left leg, right hand, ring finger, neck and face.
- Eyes found bleeding, but cause not specified.
- Genital torture confirmed.
- The above clearly shows sexual assault and brutality
But in 2012, courts awarded death penalty; in 2024, accused spared from the capital punishment
Since, Nirbhaya rape and murder has been considered by courts as rarest of rare case, how the 2024 RG Kar rape murder didn’t qualify the rare of rarest test, despite equal national opprobrium.
RAREST OF RARE CASE TEST: SC GUIDELINES
Supreme Court has awarded Capital Punishment in various rape and murder cases, and has followed the following guidelines classifying the case to be rarest of rare. A study of the court guidelines given below:
- Rape and murder of a minor girl, after establishing a balance between aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
- The mitigating circumstances like young age of accused, possibility of reformation, lack of intent of murder consequent to rape.
1980 Bachan Singh Judgment – SC GUILDELINE
- Offence exceptionally depraved and heinous in character
- Constitutes an act of design and manner of execution
- A grave danger to society from the accused
- Death penalty can be sentenced.
1983 Machhi Singh Judgement
- Victim was an innocent child
- Murder committed extremely brutal way, in a grotesque manner
- If rape and murder is of diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner that aroused extreme indignation in the community.
- The judgment has clearly specified the following to award death penalty
- 1)Motivation of perpetrator
- 2)Vulnerability of the victim
- 3)enormity of crime
- 4) and the execution thereof.
1994 Dhananjoy Chatterjee Judgement
- SC held the following to award death penalty.
- 1)the murder has been cold blooded and pre-planned murder without any provocation
- 2) rape committed on an innocent and defenceless young girl of age 18.
Shankar Kishan Rao Khade Vs State of Maharashtra Judgement
Here is an exceprt of what SC said on rape and murder and death sentence.
- The measure of punishment must depend on the following
- 1) Atrocity of the crime
- 2)Conduct of the criminal
- 3)Defenceless and unprotected state of the victim
- 4)The SC bench then has observed that imposition of appropriate punishment is the manner in which the courts respond to the society’s cry for JUSTICE AGAINST CRIMINALS.
A careful analysis of the above SC judgements and applying the same to the 2024 RG Kar rape and muder case leads to the following.
- Atrocity done on the victim
- Victim had been defenceless and in unprotected state
- Conduct of criminal shows he went into hiding after committing crime.
- Victim had been innocent
- And murder had been cold blooded.
- Society nationwide cried or say demanded justice for the victim.
