The Maharashtra government has moved the Bombay High Court seeking confirmation of the death sentence awarded to the three ‘repeat offenders’in two gang-rapes in the deserted Shakti Mills in 2013.
After a death sentence is awarded by a trial court , it is a legal requirement that it be confirmed by the High Court.
On April 4, Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi had sentenced to death Vijay Jadhav, Qasim Sheikh alias Bengali and Salim Ansari. They had been convicted under Section 376 E of Indian Penal Code which was introduced under the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act after the Delhi gang-rape of December 2012. The new section allows for the death penalty in the case of repeat sexual offenders.
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During the course of the trial, the convicts had moved the Bombay High Court against application of Section 376 (E) of IPC but the High Court chose not to intervene while the trial was underway in a Mumbai sessions court. Meanwhile the High Court had also asked the Attorney - General to submit a reply by May 7th on the constitutional validity of section 376(E).
While delivering the judgement Judge Joshi termed it a “rarest of rare” case. “If not in this case, then in which case can death be awarded? she asked. “The accused showed no mercy towards the victim. They were cruel in their conduct and had no remorse for the crime they have committed,” the judge observed
Judge Joshi added, “This is not only a crime against the girl but a crime against society. The common man will lose faith in the system if leniency is shown. There should be zero tolerance for such crimes,” she added.
The judge also remarked that the incident had dented the image of the city, for being a safe city for women. “ In the heart of the city, like Mahalaxmi area also, young girls are not secure or safe but subjected to most savaged form of sexual assault by the young boys of this very city, was shocking to one and all. It created a feeling of helplessness in parents, in women, in girls and in every section of the society.”