INDIA: MADHYA PRADESH HC COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OF 5-YEAR-OLD'S RAPIST IN JABALPUR
June 19, 2019: A division bench of MP high court on 17 June 2019 commuted the death sentence awarded to a 19-year-old boy, who had raped and killed his five-year-old cousin at a village under Katangi police station in Jabalpur district. The court commuted the death penalty to life sentence, but specified that the accused would remain in jail for 30 years. The court held that the case is based on circumstantial evidence and therefore court has to be more cautious and circumspect while awarding death sentence, besides the accused is only 19 years of age and possibility of his reform and rehabilitation can’t be ruled out and the crime is not a ‘rarest of rare’ crime. (Sources: TNN, 18/06/2019)
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