2012 Chhawala rape case: SC reserves order on capital punishment to 3 convicts
Apr 07, 2022
New Delhi [India], April 7 : Supreme Court on Thursday reserved the order on the issue of capital punishment to three convicts, who were awarded the death penalty by a Delhi Court after being held guilty of raping and killing a 19-year-old woman in Delhi's Chhawala area in 2012.
The matter was heard by a Bench comprising Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Bela M Trivedi.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati demanded the death penalty for the three convicts and said that "these are the acts that curtail the mind of the parents in the society and clip the wings of their daughters."
The Court asked ASG, "According to you death sentence is right?" to which ASG Bhati responded, "yes."
She also told the Court that there were 16 brutal injuries to the victim and 10 injuries after death, which shows a complete disregard for the body. This is a case of sexual predators, she added.
The Court noted the brutality of the crime and pointed out that there was a rod actually put (in victim's body).
Senior Counsel Sonia Mathur, appearing as amicus curiae and Senior Advocate A Sirajudeein appearing for the petitioner accused person sought leniency on the quantum of sentence. Advocate Sonia Mathur said that there is "scope of reform as the accused are showing positive signs" and urged the Court to take sympathetic views upon the accused.
The Court was hearing the case of capital punishment of three convicted for the rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi's Chhawala on Thursday.
The three convicts were awarded the death penalty after being held guilty of raping and killing a 19-year-old woman in 2012. The victim's mutilated body was found in a field with multiple injuries due to assault with objects ranging from car tools to earthen pots.
A Delhi court in February 2014 had convicted three men for raping and killing the 19-year-old woman in 2012 and had awarded them the death penalty.
The capital punishment was confirmed by the Delhi High Court on August 26 2014, saying they were "predators" moving on the streets and "were looking for prey".
Three men, Ravi Kumar, Rahul and Vinod were convicted under various charges dealing with kidnapping, rape and murder.
The three convicts have challenged the Delhi High Court order in the Supreme Court.
The victim's family and activist Yogita Bhayana have filed an intervening application to render assistance to the bench about the offence committed by the convicts.
Activist Bhayana and the father of the victim had said that they were fully conversant with the fact of the case.
The case dates back to February 2012, when a 19-year old girl's body was found in Haryana. The girl was brutally killed after being raped.
A case was registered regarding this at outer Delhi's Chhawala (Najafgarh) police station.
According to the prosecution, the offence was barbaric in nature as they first kidnapped the woman, raped her, killed her and dumped her body in a field in Rodhai village in Haryana's Rewari district.
"The woman was kidnapped by the three men in a car from near her house in Qutub Vihar area on the night of February 9, 2012, while she was returning from office," the prosecution had said.
The prosecution had also revealed multiple injuries on the woman's head and other parts of her body and said that the three men had assaulted the woman with a car jack and an earthen pot.
The crime was committed by Ravi Kumar with the help of the other two accused as the girl has refused the friendship proposal of Ravi Kumar, the prosecution had said.
