The prosecution on Wednesday demanded capital punishment for 26-year-old Ankur Lal Panwar, convicted for murder in the Preeti Rathi acid attack case.
Special Judge A.S. Shende, who convicted Panwar on Tuesday, heard the prosecution and the defence on the point of sentence. The court is likely to pass the order on Thursday.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam termed the case fit for death sentence, saying that it falls in the ‘rarest of the rare’ category. Objective of the sentencing is to deter criminals and like-minded persons from committing such crime, he said, contending that “the court would be failing in its duty if a just and appropriate punishment was not awarded”. Mr. Nikam submitted that the country has now become so conscious about crime against women that after the Delhi gang-rape case of 2012, amendments were made to the IPC. Panwar did not commit the crime on the spur of the moment, but it was a pre-planned attack, said the prosecutor. “If he was given a lesser punishment and he was released after completing the sentence, other girls would not be safe.”
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Meanwhile, the district legal services authority has asked the Maharashtra government to pay a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to Ms. Rathi’s parents.