Arguing on the quantum of sentence in the Pallavi Purkayastha murder case, the prosecution on Thursday sought death sentence for the watchman who was convicted by the sessions court on Monday for killing the 25 year old lawyer inside her Central Mumbai apartment in 2012. The court will decide on the sentence on July 7.
On June 30, the court had pronounced the accused, >Sajjad Mugal guilty of molestation, trespass and murder . The court will pronounce the sentence on July 7th.
Pallavi nd her fiancé had rented an apartment in Bhakti Park in June 2012. According to the police Mugal was aware Pallavi as alone on the night of August 9, 2012, when he disconnected the power supply to the 16floor flat. He attempted to rape her and when she resisted, killed her, the chargesheet said.
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“The victim was totally defenceless and alone when Sajjad, who was gripped with lust, attacked her. He is a pervert and a sadist person,” Special public prosecutor Ujjawal Nikam argued while seeking the maximum penalty. Mr. Nikam also referred Sajjad as a ‘Shaitaan’ (satan) during the course of his argument.
“He has no repentance or shows no remorse for the heinous crime he had committed. A man who was hired to protect the society members, killed one of them and therefore nothing less than a death sentence will serve as deterrence to like-minded criminals,” he added.
The defense however argued that the case did not merit ‘the rarest of the rare’ argument and therefore capital punishment must not be awarded.
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“Capital punishment is awarded only in cases where the accused has no chance of reformation. The court should consider his young age and the fact that of medical report had stated that of the 16 injuries inflicted on the victim only one was fatal in nature,” Wahab Khan, the counsel for the accused told the court.