The Bombay high court on Monday commuted the death sentence of a 23-year-old man to life, but awarded him a double life sentence for raping and killing his four-year-old niece in 2012 in the Sangli district of Maharashtra. The court said that both his life sentences would run consecutively, which means that the second life sentence would commence after the first life sentence is over.
The division bench headed by Justice Vijaya Tahilramani passed this judgement after hearing an appeal filed by Vitthal Atugade against his death sentence. The state government had also filed a confirmation petition in the court seeking confirmation of the death sentence awarded to the convict by a sessions court in Sangli district. The bench specified that the double life sentence would mean 14 years for rape and after completion of the first sentence, he would undergo another 14 years for murder.
While hearing the appeal, government pleader Geeta Mulekar argued that the convict should be awarded stringent punishment which could work as a deterrent because he had committed a serious crime against a minor and defenceless girl.
Though the bench termed the action as a gory crime, it did not award Atugade death sentence as it felt the act did not fall under the category of ‘rarest of rare’ cases.
