The Supreme Court on Friday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted of repeatedly raping and murdering his 6-year-old stepdaughter. [Waris v. State of Madhya Pradesh]
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi upheld his conviction but ordered that he spend the remainder of his natural life in prison, without remission.
The Court found that the convict had killed the child to silence her and conceal the sexual assault. It described this as an aggravating circumstance “of the highest order”, but said the gravity of the crime could not, by itself, establish that he was beyond reform.
“A crime may be exceptionally grave and its perpetrator may yet not be shown to be beyond reform, and where that is so the law, as it has recently been applied, does not exact his life,” the Court said.
The Bench noted that convict had no criminal antecedents, his conduct in custody had been satisfactory and the State had led no evidence that he was incapable of reform. It found that imprisonment for the rest of his life would adequately punish the crime and protect society.
“The aggravating feature distinguishes the crime, but it does not distinguish the criminal in the respect that matters to the choice of sentence,” the Court said.
According to the prosecution, the child’s mother married Waris in August 2017 and moved with her daughter into his home. The Court noted that she was his fourth wife and that his 3 previous wives had left him because of his violent conduct.
The prosecution said that Waris sexually assaulted the child on April 21 and 22, 2018. Her condition deteriorated, but he refused her mother’s requests to take her for medical treatment. On April 23, the mother heard the child scream and saw him throttling her.
A post-mortem examination found that the child had died from asphyxia caused by throttling. It also recorded an injury indicative of sexual assault.
In December 2018, the trial court convicted Waris of offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO Act). It sentenced him to death for the rape and murder offences.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court confirmed the death sentence in November 2019. Waris then approached the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court found that Waris’s legal aid lawyer had been appointed on the very day the child’s mother, the principal prosecution witness, testified. The lawyer had to cross-examine her without time to prepare.
The Court, therefore, ordered a further cross-examination. After considering her testimony, it held that the earlier defect had been cured. It found her account reliable and supported by other evidence.
While commuting the death sentence, the Court said that an ordinary life sentence carrying the prospect of remission after 14 years would be “wholly inadequate”.
It thus ordered Waris to remain in prison for the rest of his natural life without remission and affirmed the other sentences imposed on him.
Senior Advocate CU Singh with Advocates Shreya Rastogi, Niharika Srivastava and Katyayani Suhrud appeared for Waris.
Deputy Advocate General Bhupendra Pratap Singh with Advocates Abhimanyu Singh, Maitreyee Jagat Joshi, Astik Gupta and Akanksha Tomar appeared for the State of Madhya Pradesh.
[Read Judgment]