India's Supreme Court ordered the death sentence for a man
India's Supreme Court ordered the death sentence for a man
India's Supreme Court ordered the death sentence for a man accused of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl, overturning a lower court ruling acquitting him. The country's top court said the case fell in the category of the "rarest of rare," a Press Trust of India report said. India applies the death sentence only in what are considered the most heinous crimes. A trial court initially convicted the man, identified by the news agency as Satish. But the ruling was overturned by a higher court which said circumstantial evidence was not a sufficient basis to find him guilty. Witnesses testified the child was last seen on a bicycle with Satish in March 16, 2003. Her body was found a day later in nearby sugarcane fields.
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court order, saying leniency in punishing grave crimes would have "serious consequences."
The Supreme Court set aside the High Court order, saying leniency in punishing grave crimes would have "serious consequences."
— SOURCES
- (Sources: Agence France Presse, 10/02/2005)
