In Brief
A 22-year-old man was convicted of raping and murdering a 9-year-old girl and was sentenced to death by lower courts. The Supreme Court held that while the crime was undoubtedly heinous involving exceptional depravity, it did not fall within the 'rarest of rare cases' warranting capital punishment. The Court considered mitigating factors including the appellant's young age, lack of evidence of premeditation, and potential for reformation. Setting aside the death sentence on proportionality grounds, the Court imposed 30 years imprisonment without remission, finding this proportionate to the brutality of the crime while respecting the principle that life imprisonment is the norm and death the exception in murder cases.
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