High Court confirms death for Daswanth
Mohamed Imranullah S.
CHENNAI, July 11, 2018 00:00 IST
Daswanth
‘Duty-bound to listen to cries of victims’
Observing that courts were duty-bound to listen to the silent cries of victims of child sexual abuse, the Madras High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentence imposed by a trial court on 23-year-old S. Daswanth for sexually assaulting and murdering a seven-year-old girl at an apartment in Mugalivakkam near here on February 5, 2017.
An all-women Division Bench of Justices S. Vimala and S. Ramathilagam, constituted by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee especially for hearing cases related to crimes against women and children, dismissed an appeal preferred by the convict and upheld the capital punishment imposed on him by a mahila court in Chengalpattu on February 19.
“The brutality and the beastly act of the convict cannot be described in words... Justice demands that courts should impose punishments befitting the crime so that it reflects public abhorrence to the crime. Crimes like the one before us cannot be looked with magnanimity... If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case,” the Bench said.
Authoring the judgment, Ms. Justice Vimala said the Constitution envisages a happy and healthy childhood free from abuse and exploitation. “But we live in a society where safety and security of children remains an unfulfilled promise,” she added after pointing out how the convict had lured the victim to his flat when she was playing on the ground floor of the apartment.
The sole stimulus for the crime was to satisfy physical pleasure.
After achieving that object, the convict had gone to the extent of murdering the child, hiding the body for quite some time in his house while pretending to be searching the child along with her parents and then burning the body with petrol at a remote location, the court pointed out.
“The diabolical ingenuity with which the body has been disposed off by the accused to ward off any attraction to him has led to the budding flower being reduced to ashes even before blossoming. The mindset of the accused to commit such a heinous act is more cruel than the act itself,” the judges said.
Conscious about the criticism that they would face for confirming the death sentence, the two judges said, opponents of capital punishment might brand the verdict as a surrender of emotions to grief, fear and so on. However, stating that “many of us would find it hard even to kill an ant, much less a man,” the Bench went on to say: “Accepting capital punishment means not that we surrender to our emotion, but that we overcome it.”
If imposition of death penalty amounts to taking away the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, “would not the act of violating physical space of women and children amount to violation of Article 21?” the judges asked. They said victims of sexual abuse go through an “unfathomable, emotional, physical and psychological pain” not only at the ignominious point but throughout their life.
Nevertheless, the aspect of punishment for criminal offences always revolves around the interest of the accused alone, the judges lamented. They emphasised the need to think of the fact that children who suffer sexual abuse during childhood continue to suffer throughout their life, facing problems even in marital relationship.
Another murder case
It recorded the submission of State Public Prosecutor (in-charge) C. Emalias and Additional Public Prosecutor M. Mohammed Riyaz that Daswanth was also facing another case for having allegedly murdered his mother when he was out on bail.
However, the judges did not advert to it since it was a separate case altogether.
They held that the facts of the present case were enough to exhibit the “ruthless character of the convict” and prove that his “mind is beyond reformation.”
Mohamed Imranullah S.
CHENNAI, July 11, 2018 00:00 IST
Daswanth
‘Duty-bound to listen to cries of victims’
Observing that courts were duty-bound to listen to the silent cries of victims of child sexual abuse, the Madras High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentence imposed by a trial court on 23-year-old S. Daswanth for sexually assaulting and murdering a seven-year-old girl at an apartment in Mugalivakkam near here on February 5, 2017.
An all-women Division Bench of Justices S. Vimala and S. Ramathilagam, constituted by Chief Justice Indira Banerjee especially for hearing cases related to crimes against women and children, dismissed an appeal preferred by the convict and upheld the capital punishment imposed on him by a mahila court in Chengalpattu on February 19.
“The brutality and the beastly act of the convict cannot be described in words... Justice demands that courts should impose punishments befitting the crime so that it reflects public abhorrence to the crime. Crimes like the one before us cannot be looked with magnanimity... If at all there is a case warranting award of death sentence, it is the present case,” the Bench said.
Authoring the judgment, Ms. Justice Vimala said the Constitution envisages a happy and healthy childhood free from abuse and exploitation. “But we live in a society where safety and security of children remains an unfulfilled promise,” she added after pointing out how the convict had lured the victim to his flat when she was playing on the ground floor of the apartment.
The sole stimulus for the crime was to satisfy physical pleasure.
After achieving that object, the convict had gone to the extent of murdering the child, hiding the body for quite some time in his house while pretending to be searching the child along with her parents and then burning the body with petrol at a remote location, the court pointed out.
“The diabolical ingenuity with which the body has been disposed off by the accused to ward off any attraction to him has led to the budding flower being reduced to ashes even before blossoming. The mindset of the accused to commit such a heinous act is more cruel than the act itself,” the judges said.
Conscious about the criticism that they would face for confirming the death sentence, the two judges said, opponents of capital punishment might brand the verdict as a surrender of emotions to grief, fear and so on. However, stating that “many of us would find it hard even to kill an ant, much less a man,” the Bench went on to say: “Accepting capital punishment means not that we surrender to our emotion, but that we overcome it.”
If imposition of death penalty amounts to taking away the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, “would not the act of violating physical space of women and children amount to violation of Article 21?” the judges asked. They said victims of sexual abuse go through an “unfathomable, emotional, physical and psychological pain” not only at the ignominious point but throughout their life.
Nevertheless, the aspect of punishment for criminal offences always revolves around the interest of the accused alone, the judges lamented. They emphasised the need to think of the fact that children who suffer sexual abuse during childhood continue to suffer throughout their life, facing problems even in marital relationship.
Another murder case
It recorded the submission of State Public Prosecutor (in-charge) C. Emalias and Additional Public Prosecutor M. Mohammed Riyaz that Daswanth was also facing another case for having allegedly murdered his mother when he was out on bail.
However, the judges did not advert to it since it was a separate case altogether.
They held that the facts of the present case were enough to exhibit the “ruthless character of the convict” and prove that his “mind is beyond reformation.”
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