In Brief
A 22-year-old man was convicted of rape, grievous injury, burning, and murder of a minor girl under IPC sections 450, 376(2)(i), 376D, 376A, 302 read with 34, and POCSO section 5(g)/6, with death penalty imposed. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction based on reliable dying declarations corroborated by multiple witnesses, but commuted the death sentence to 20 years rigorous imprisonment without remission. The Court found the case did not qualify as 'rarest of rare' considering the appellant's age (22 years), socio-economic disadvantage, loss of parents, absence of criminal history, satisfactory prison conduct, and reformation potential warranted a middle-path sentence rather than execution.
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