Amidst arguments for capital punishment and defence counsel’s pleas for
leniency, the fast track court reserved the decision on sentence for the four
Delhi gangrape convicts to Friday.
The arguments on the sentence have ended. Now the sentence will be announced
on Friday at 2.30pm.
The four-- Mukesh Singh, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma—were
declared guilty by the court on Tuesday of raping and murdering the 23-year-old
physiotherapy intern on the basis of her dying declaration, forensic evidence,
DNA samples, electronic evidence and the testimony of her friend and prime eye
witness to the gory incident.
On Wednesday, public prosecutor Dayan Krishnan strongly presented the demand
for death penalty before the court. He prayed before the court ‘show no mercy
for merciless convicts’. It was a premeditated crime, which fell in "the rarest
of the rare category", warranting "the death sentence, he argued.
The men had used a metal rod and their hands to pull the woman's organs from
her body after raping her, the prosecution said. Her injuries were so severe
that she died in hospital two weeks after the attack.
Judge Yogesh Khanna, who found the four guilty of "cold-blooded" murder, was
hearing arguments from the prosecution and defence on sentencing. The minimum
sentence the men could receive is life in prison.
Defence counsel appearing for Pawan Gupta, one of the convicted in the Dec 16
gang rape and murder case, pleaded for mercy citing his young age. Gupta, a
fruit vendor, is 19 years old. Defence counsel also said the crime was
committed on the spur of the moment and was not premeditated.
Counsel opposed the prosecution's demand for death penalty for the convicted,
and said life imprisonment may be given to Pawan instead of death. Pawan is
"just 19 years old and there are chances of his reform", the advocate said.
Arguing on the quantum of sentence in the case, the prosecution sought death
penalty for the four men accused who were convicted for the gang rape and murder
of the physiotherapist intern.
Meanwhile, the court also rejected the defence lawyers' plea to issue
contempt notice to home minister Sushilkumar Shinde for predicting death for
convicts.
The police had charged six persons in the incident. The
case against one of the main accused, Ram Singh, was dropped following his death
in Tihar Jail during the trial earlier this year.
The sixth juvenile accused was held guilty by the Juvenile Justice Board on
August 31, and was sent to a remand home for three years.
The charges in the instant case were framed on February 2 during which the
court also invoked section 366 IPC against them for abducting the girl with the
intention of committing "illicit intercourse".
It had in its order described the juvenile as an associate of the adult
accused, who committed gang rape in furtherance of the conspiracy and "common
intention."
Source:HT
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