NEW DELHI: A man, released on parole after being arrested on wife's FIR accusing him of raping his minor daughter, came home and hacked to death his wife and daughter, but the Supreme Court on Monday found it not to be a "rarest of rare" crime and commuted his death penalty to imprisonment for entire life.
To deviate from the concurrent view of the trial court and the Punjab & Haryana high court to award death penalty to Mohinder Singh, the apex court bench of Justices P Sathasivam and F M I Kalifulla found a "significant factor": the man did not harm his other daughter who was present in the house during the incident on January 8, 2006.
It was probably more brutal than the Nirbhaya case. Singh was convicted for raping minor daughter and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. The wife, who had lodged the rape case against her husband, had driven him out of the house. After being released on parole in January 2005, he had once attacked the wife.
But a year later, he came to his wife's house in a village near Ludhiana armed with a axe and hacked both her and the rape victim daughter in front of his other daughter. The prosecution narrated the sequence of events, recounting, "When the wife came to the lobby of the house, the accused hit her on the head with an axe. She fell on the ground and, thereafter, he gave two more blows on her neck and hand. Then, he attacked the daughter and gave three repeated blows on her head. Both of them died on the spot."
The prosecution said, "When he approached towards the other daughter, she went into a room and bolted it from inside. The accused fled the scene leaving behind the axe at the spot. After some time, the surviving daughter came out of the room and raised a hue and cry." The accused was arrested on the same day.
In converting the death penalty into imprisonment for entire life, the bench of Justices Sathasivam and Kalifulla said, " "One significant factor in this case, which we should not lose sight of is that he did not harm his other daughter even though he had a good chance for the same."
Justice Sathasivam, writing the judgment for the bench, said, "It was highlighted that he being a poor man and unable to earn his livelihood since he was driven out of his house by his deceased wife. It is also his claim that if he was allowed to live in the house, he could easily meet both his ends and means, as the money which he was spending by paying rent would have been saved. It is his further grievance that his deceased wife was adamant and he should live outside and should not lead happy married life and that was the reason that their relations were strained."
After taking note of Singh's plea, the apex court said, "This shows that the accused was feeling frustrated because of the attitude of his wife and children. Moreover, the probability of the offender's rehabilitation and reformation is not foreclosed in this case."
The court also relied on an affidavit filed by Singh's sister reflecting that the family had not entirely renounced him and concluded, "Hence, there is a possibility for reformation in the present appellant. Keeping in mind all these materials, we do not think that the present case warrants the award of death penalty."
"The appellant accused, therefore, instead of being awarded death penalty, is sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for life, meaning thereby, the end of his life but subject to any remission granted by the appropriate government satisfying the conditions prescribed in law," the court added.
SC commutes rapist-killer father's death
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SC commutes rapist-killer father's death
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SC commutes rapist-killer father's death
