| Headnote |
PENAL CODE, 1860: SS. 302, 377 and 201 - Sodomy, buggery and bestiality - Murder - Minor aged 10 years subjected to carnal intercourse and then strangulated to death - Conviction and death sentence - On appeal, held: Evidence of prosecution witnesses in its entirety trustworthy and reliable - Sister of accused categorically stated that she had heard the cries of the victim-deceased coming from the room of accused during mid-night and she could not sleep till the cries subsided - She had no axe to grind against her own brother and was a trustworthy witness - School bag of the deceased and pant was recovered from a box placed beneath cot in the house of accused which indicated that deceased was in the company of the accused on the fateful night - DNA test also proved that anal smear matched with the DNA profile of smear stains, which also matched with the control blood sample of the accused - Consent of a passive agent was not at all a defence, he being a minor - Prosecution clearly established that, after subjecting the boy to Pederasty, he was strangulated to death - Case u/s.302, 377 and 201 IPC clearly made out - Accused committed the crime at the age of 35 years and a fully matured person - There was no mitigating circumstance favouring him - There was nothing to show that he was under any emotional or mental stress - The offence was committed only to satisfy his lust, in a perverted way - The murder was committed in an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical and dastardly manner and the accused was in a dominating position and the victim was an innocent boy - Life of a boy, the only son of his mother, was taken away which pricks not only the judicial conscience but also the conscience of the society - Incarceration of a further period of thirty years, without remission, in addition to the sentence already undergone, will be an adequate punishment in the facts and circumstances of the case, rather than death sentence - Sentence/Sentencing. MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE: Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA - Evidentiary value of - Held: DNA is a molecule that encodes the genetic information in all living organisms - DNA genotype can be obtained from any biological material such as bone, blood, semen, saliva, hair, skin, etc. - Generally, when DNA profile of a sample found at the scene of crime matches with DNA profile of the suspect, it can generally be concluded that both samples have the same biological origin - DNA profile is valid and reliable, but variance in a particular result depends on the quality control and quality procedure in the laboratory - Penal Code, 1860 - Evidence. SENTENCE/SENTENCING: Rarest of rare case - Held: R-R Test depends upon the perception of the society that is "society-centric" and not "Judge-centric" that is, whether the society will approve the awarding of death sentence to certain types of crimes or not - While applying that test, the court has to look into variety of factors like society's abhorrence, extreme indignation and antipathy of certain types of crimes like sexual assault and murder of minor girls, intellectually challenged minor girls, minors suffering from physical disability, old and infirm women, etc. - In the instant case, offence u/s. 377 was fully proved so also the offence u/s.302 - Indian society and also the International society abhor pederasty, an unnatural sex, i.e. carnal intercourse between a man and a minor boy or a girl - When the victim is a minor, consent is not a defence, irrespective of the views expressed at certain quarters on consensual sex between adults.Reformation and rehabilitation - Determination of sentence - Duty of courts - Held: It is the duty of the Court to ascertain whether the accused would be a menace to the society and there would be no possibility of reformation and rehabilitation and the 'state is obliged to furnish materials for and against the possibility of reformation and rehabilitation of the accused. CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, 1973: s.235(2) r/w s.354(3) - Death sentence - Held: When culpability assumes the proportions of depravity, the Court has to give special reasons within the meaning of s.354(3) for imposition of death sentence - Legislative policy is that when special reasons do exist, as in the instant case, the Court has to discharge its constitutional obligations and honour the legislative policy by awarding appropriate sentence, that is the will of the people - Sentence/Sentencing. |
