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A court in Siliguri, West Bengal on Saturday sentenced MD Abbas to death for the rape and murder of a minor girl. The crime occurred on August 21, 2023, when the girl was brutally raped and murdered on her way to school in an abandoned area under Matigara Police Station's jurisdiction.
This judgement comes at a time when massive protests are taking place in Bengal and across India demanding justice for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Several people including the Bengal government led by CM Mamata Banerjee have spoken about capital punishment for the accused in the crime.
Banerjee's cabinet also passed the 'Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill 2024' or the 'Anti-Rape Bill' which also proposed the Death penalty for rape convicts if victim dies or is in a vegetative state.
Siliguri Rape Case And Death Sentence
The additional district and sessions judge, Anita Mehrotra Mathur, delivered the verdict after considering testimony from 33 witnesses and the prosecution's arguments.
MD Abbas was convicted under Section 302 for murder and Section 6 of the POCSO Act for offenses against children.
The police quickly nabbed Abbas, arresting him within six hours of the crime.
Special public prosecutor Bivas Chatterjee told ANI, "On the last occasion, we pleaded for the death sentence because three sections on which the punishment was proved among the other sections carries a maximum punishment. So last day I had a one-and-a-half hour hearing on this point trying to project this case as one of the rarest of the rare cases."
Other Rape & Murder Cases Where Death Sentence Was Given
1. Nirbhaya Rape Case - Four men namely Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta, and Mukesh Singh were executed by hanging in Delhi's Tihar Jail in 2020 for the 2012 gang rape and murder of a student in the national capital.
The victim, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student named 'Nirbhaya' by the media, was brutally raped and murdered on a bus, leading to widespread outrage and new anti-rape laws. Six people were initially arrested; one, Ram Singh, died by suicide in jail, and a juvenile offender was released in 2015 after serving the maximum three-year term for minors.
2. Kerala Rape Case - The Kerala High Court in May 2024, upheld the death sentence for Muhammed Ameer ul-Islam, the sole convict in the 2016 rape and murder of a 30-year-old law student in Ernakulam district.
The 22-year-old migrant laborer from Assam had broken into the victim's home near Perumbavoor on April 28, 2016.
The law student, who lived with her mother, was found dead in her residence after being raped and brutally attacked with sharp-edged weapons. The trial court's death sentence was confirmed by the high court that led to the death sentence.
3. Gurugram Minor Rape Case - A 28-year-old man was sentenced to death by a sessions court in February, 2024 for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl.
The crime was committed on November 11, 2018, in Gurugram, where the man abducted the girl while she was leaving a temple event.
The special fast-track court, led by Additional Sessions Judge Shashi Chauhan, found him guilty on February 3. He was sentenced under Section 376AB for raping a minor and Section 302 for murder, and was also fined ₹25,000.
4. Nagpur Rape Case - A sessions court in Nagpur, Maharashtra in June 2024 sentenced Sanjay Puri to death on three counts for the abduction, rape, and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2019.
This marked the first instance in Maharashtra where a court has issued three death sentences in one case. Additional Sessions Judge S.R. Padwal convicted Puri under Sections 302 and 376AB of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act.
The child was reported missing on December 7, 2019, and her body was found the next day. She had been sexually assaulted and killed with a boulder. Puri was quickly identified as the perpetrator. The court also imposed a Rs15,000 fine and directed assistance for the victim's parents in applying for compensation.
5. Punjab Rape Case - The Punjab and Haryana High Court in February, 2024 converted a 53-year-old man's death sentence to life imprisonment for raping his 12-year-old daughter, but underscored the seriousness of the crime.
The case, which involved assaulting his wife and threatening his daughter, was initially sentenced to death by a fast-track court in Sirsa in November 2022, labeled a "rarest of rare" case.
On appeal, the High Court, led by Justices G.S. Sandhawalia and Lapita Banerji, acknowledged the convict's marginalized background and lack of prior offenses, deciding that life imprisonment under Section 6 of the POCSO Act was more appropriate. While recognizing the horrific nature of the crime, the court refused to show leniency based solely on the convict's family situation and upheld the trial court's decision, emphasizing the absence of evidence in favor of the convict.
