In Brief
The appellant was convicted of raping and murdering a 7-year-old girl and sentenced to death. The Supreme Court upheld the conviction based on circumstantial evidence (he was last seen with the victim, blood-stained items from the crime were found in his house, and he failed to explain the incriminating material). However, the Court found the case did not qualify as 'rarest of rare' warranting capital punishment. Considering the appellant's youth (19 at the time of the offence), lack of prior convictions, and good prison conduct, the Court commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment while confirming the conviction.
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