In Brief
A 53-year-old man was convicted of rape and murder of a five-year-old girl based on DNA evidence and his confession to his wife. The trial court imposed death sentence, which the High Court confirmed. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction for rape and murder but commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment. The Court held that while the crime was barbaric and heinous, it did not fall within the 'rarest of rare' category because there was no pre-meditation, no evidence of diabolic planning, no criminal antecedents, and no indication the convict posed a continuing threat to society. Additionally, the accused was not effectively heard on the question of sentence as required by law.
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