Honour and respect for women are marks of civilized society: Bombay HC – Times of India

MUMBAI: Over seven years after two gang-rapes in the defunct, abandoned and overgrown Shakti Mills premises at Mahalaxmi in south Mumbai, Bombay high court set aside a 2014 death sentence verdict for three convicts common to both crimes and commuted the punishment to life sentence.
The HC upheld their conviction for gang rape and other offences and said the sentence shall mean ‘rigorous imprisonment for the remainder of their natural life,’’ said the HC, with no entitlement to any remission including parole and furlough leaves from prison.
“Women are the backbone of every nation and therefore, they deserve their due respect and honour. Honour and Respect for women are the marks of a civilized Society,’’ said a bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and PK Chavan. The bench said the crime was grave and the convicts “don’t deserve to assimilate in society.”
The death sentence to the trio was given in April 2014 in the case of a 22-year-old photo journalist who had registered an FIR on August 23, 2013, immediately the next day after the crime. There were five persons accused including a minor.
A 19-year-old telephone operator too, had later registered an FIR alleging being gang-raped at the same mill compound but on July 31, 2013. There were three accused common to both cases.
A death sentence given by a trial court, to become effective, needs to first be confirmed by the high court.
“The statute has not prescribed mandatory death penalty. Although the offence is barbaric and heinous, it cannot be said at the threshold that the accused deserve only death penalty and nothing less than that,’’ said the HC.
It spared the noose for three young men, one 18 when booked, all from underprivileged sections of society–Vijay Jadhav (18), Mohammad Qasim Shaikh (20) and Mohammed Salim Ansari (27). Their court appointed counsel Yug Chaudhry cited several irregularities in the trial court proceedings in awarding them death sentence under section 376E IPC, saying the charge was not invoked as per law. But Special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi had argued that the law permits death sentence for second conviction and the “sequence and time of the offence is immaterial.’’
The HC said, “there is no doubt that the incident as narrated by the survivor on 22nd August, 2013 had occurred in the backdrop and in the manner in which it was narrated. The courage of the survivor needs to be appreciated. That she had put at stake her reputation, her identity and the embarrassment to herself and her family and all concerned and the risk of having to face social obloquy, when she set the law into motion.’’
The HC noted that one accused telling a co-accused that “a prey has come’’ and calling each other to accost the prey is sufficient proof of their conspiracy and establishes that it was not their first time. Two accused even told the survivor that she was not their first case.
On March 20, 2014, the Sessions Judge first held three common accused guilty for the gangrape of the telephone operator and about 30 minutes later pronounced a guilty verdict in the case of the photojournalist too.
During trial prosecution had examined 45 witnesses to bring home the guilt while the defence examined five witnesses including mothers of two accused to rebut the charge.
The trial court had decided both cases with seven months and 13 days from the date of incident, bringing “speedy justice’’ the HC said.
The state had made a plea to invoke section 376E of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) a new provision for death sentence to repeat offender in rape cases, half an hour after the first conviction.
The HC bench however held it was not a case of a previous conviction, “since both the Sessions Cases were being tried simultaneously and the conviction in both was on the same day without giving an opportunity to the accused to place before the court the mitigating circumstances.’’
The HC said in “In a case like the present one, the Court cannot ignore the fact that this incident had shocked the conscience of the society and there was public outcry.’’ But the court can’t punish based on the public outcry alone, it is a Court’s bounden duty to consider the case “dispassionately’’ and cannot ignore legal procedures.
Every case of rape is a heinous offence. The damage done to the victim far outweighs the public conscience. A rape victim does not suffer just physical injury, but what is affected is her mental health and stability in life. Rape tantamounts to a serious blow to the supreme honour and dignity of woman. It is a violation of human rights.’’
The accused did not appeal the death penalty.
The HC said, “Death puts an end to the whole concept of repentance, any sufferings and mental agony.’’
On Thursday in a separate judgment, Bombay HC dismissed an appeal by a convict and upheld conviction and life sentence of Mohd Ashfaq Shaikh, 25 year old, for the July 31, 2013 gang-rape of the telephone operator at Shakti Mills compound. The bench of Justices Jadhav and Chavan held that prosecution had proved its case against him. Even otherwise, the HC said the “sole testimony of the prosecutrix (telephone operator) itself is sufficient to establish the guilt of the accused, however, it finds support from her boyfriend and her mother. The prosecution has collected all the incriminating articles from the spot as well as the call detail records.”
The Judgment authored by Justice Jadhav began by quoting Lucretia Mott (1793-1880) one of the founders of organised women’s rights movement in the US who said, “The world has never yet seen a truly great and virtuous nation because in the degradation of woman the very fountains of life are poisoned at their source.”