Delhi HC upholds conviction of man for rape, murder of 3-year-old girl

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has upheld the conviction of a 56-year-old man for brutally raping and murdering a three-year-old girl, saying the offence fits the description of a crime of "exceptional depravity".

The court, however, deferred its decision to July 11 as to whether the convict be sent to gallows, as awarded by the trial court, or serve the life imprisonment. A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Mukta Gupta, which was to decide on the appeal of convict Bharat Singh and the death reference plea of the state, asked the Delhi government to appoint a probation officer for giving a report as to whether there was any chance of convict being "rehabilitated or reformed" or if he is still a threat to the society.

The lower court had on January 15, 2013 awarded death penalty to the convict for the murder and life imprisonment for the rape of the child, saying the case "fell in the category of rarest of rare cases warranting the capital punishment".

The girl, who went missing on April 9, 2011 from her home, was kidnapped by the convict, a private security guard posted at a farm house, and was raped in the guards' room there.

The medical report said the victim was not murdered after the rape, rather she died due to "neurogenic shock caused by forceful and painful sexual intercourse".

The high court relied on the DNA tests reports that proved that it was the convict who had ravished the little girl. "The court is of the view that in the present case the DNA Fingerprint Analysis confirms that the anal swabs taken from the victim contained alleles (which) were fully accounted for in the blood sample taken from the accused. This clinches the issue as far as the rape, and consequential murder of the victim, by the accused is concerned," it said.

The court, however, concurred with the submissions of defence lawyer Sumeet Verma that the death penalty cannot be awarded on the sole ground that the offence was grave in nature.

Citing various recent case laws, Verma said the state is under a legal obligation to lead evidence as to whether the condemned convict can be reformed or rehabilitated or not.

Justice Muralidhar, writing the verdict for the bench, said, "The court is of the view that each of the circumstances pointed out by the trial Court has been fully established by the prosecution beyond all reasonable doubt. They point unerringly to the guilt of the accused.

"....The court is satisfied that no error has been committed by the trial Court in so far as the conclusion reached by it that the accused Bharat Singh raped the deceased minor girl and thereby murdered her."

Referring to the facts of the case, the court said, "There is little difficulty as regards the existence of aggravating circumstances", but the state needed to place the materials "to show whether the accused is capable of being reformed and rehabilitated."

It said before deliberating on the issue of sentence to be awarded to Bharat Singh for the offence of murder, the Home Department of Delhi Government of NCT is directed to "assign to any one PO, the task of submitting to this court a report specifically on the following two aspects: "Is there a probability that, in the future, the accused would commit criminal acts of violence as would constitute a continuing threat to society?

"Is there a probability that the accused can be reformed and rehabilitated?" The court also suggested the modalities of preparing the report by the probation officer.

The apex court decisions "will provide adequate guidance to the PO as to how he has to go about his task of preparing and presenting a detailed report on the above two aspects," it said.

The court asked the PO to "inquire from the jail administration and seek a report as to the conduct of the accused while in jail." It also said that the officer will have to meet the family of the convict and the people at his native place.

"The PO shall consult and seek specific inputs from two professionals with not less than ten years experience from the fields of Clinical Psychology and Sociology," it said. The hearing on the issue of sentence would commence on July 11 after the PO files his report in a sealed cover.