In the Bulandshahr moving car gang rape and murder case of a minor, the Allahabad High Court on Friday (04th October) commuted the death sentence of the three convicts Zulfikar Abbasi, Dilshad Abbasi and Malani alias Israel, to 25 years of imprisonment. The court did not consider it a ‘rarest of the rare’ case and emphasized the possibility of rehabilitation and reform of the convicts. The crime is from January 2018, when 17-year-old Aarushi (name changed) was kidnapped, gang-raped, and murdered in a moving car in Bulandshahr district.
Allahabad High Court commutes the death sentence
According to the Live Law report, during the hearing, the Allahabad High Court bench of Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan and Justice Mohammad Azhar Hussain Idrisi said that this case does not fall in the category of ‘rarest of the rare’, so the culprits cannot be hanged. The court sentenced the three convicts – Zulfiqar Abbasi, Dilshad Abbasi and Israel alias Melani – to 25 years of imprisonment, with no remission.
According to the prosecution, on the evening of January 2, 2018, the convicts saw the victim going on her bicycle and kidnapped her. They dragged her into their car and raped her one by one in the moving car. When the victim started screaming, they strangled her to death with her dupatta and dumped her body in a canal.
During the hearing of the case, the POCSO court of Bulandshahr had awarded death penalty to all the three convicts in March 2021. The court had said that the incident has created an atmosphere of fear in the society and people, especially parents, have become anxious about sending their daughters to school. The convicts were convicted under sections 364 (kidnapping), 376D (gangrape), 302/34 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 404 (snatching property) of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act.
High Court hearing on review petition of death sentence
The three convicts, who were sentenced to death in the POCSO court, had filed an appeal in the Allahabad High Court against the verdict. The High Court reviewed the lower court’s decision in this case and found that it did not fall in the category of ‘rarest of the rare’ case. The court said that the lower court had not given any special reasons on the basis of which only death penalty should be given.
The High Court said that the convicts had no previous criminal record and they also had the responsibility of their families. Apart from this, the age of the convicts was around 24 years, and one of them had health problems. In view of these circumstances, the court said that reform and rehabilitation of the convicts is possible, so instead of death penalty, a sentence of 25 years of imprisonment would be appropriate.
What was the entire matter
This case is related to the incident of January 2018, when 17-year-old victim Aarushi (name changed) was kidnapped and gang-raped in a moving car in Bulandshahr district and later murdered. After this gruesome incident, tension spread in the entire area. On 4th January 2018, the body of the victim was found in a canal. The family members had registered a case against Israel, Zulfiqar, and Dilshad, naming them.
In this case, the negligence of the police also came to the fore. It was alleged that the then outpost in-charge did not present the evidence recovered after the incident in the court, even though that evidence were important for the case. After the court’s displeasure, the police expedited the investigation and collected solid evidence against the three accused.
The POCSO court had sentenced them to death
In March 2021, the POCSO court of Bulandshahr sentenced Israel, Zulfiqar, and Dilshad to death in this case. The court said that the crime was so serious and gruesome that it created an atmosphere of fear in the society and people became worried about the safety of their daughters. The court convicted the accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the POCSO Act. After the death sentence was pronounced, the victim’s mother had said that she wanted to see the three convicts hanged. She described the incident as extremely sad and humiliating for her daughter and the entire family.
However, now the High Court has changed the death sentence to 25 years of imprisonment, this decision was taken keeping in mind the possibility of rehabilitation of the convicts and the nature of the crime. The court said that points such as the age of the convicts, their no criminal record and responsibility towards their family were enough to reduce the sentence in this case.
