President Murmu rejects mercy petition of man convicted for raping, killing 4-year-old girl
New Delhi, May 4: President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy petition of a man convicted for raping and stoning to death a four-year-old girl in Maharashtra in 2008, according to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
This was the first mercy petition rejected by Murmu after she assumed office as the 15th President of India on July 25, 2022.
The Supreme Court had on May 3, 2017, dismissed the review petition of Vasanta Sampat Dupare (then 55 years old) and sent him to the gallows.
The President's secretariat on March 28 this year received a recommendation from Union Home Ministry in Dupare's case.
"The mercy petition (of Dupare) was rejected by the President (on April 10)," said a statement on the status of the mercy petition, updated as on April 28, 2023, by the President's secretariat.
The apex court had in 2017 held that "the aggravating circumstances and the barbaric manner in which the four-year-old was killed, clearly outweigh the mitigating circumstances".
It had on November 26, 2014, upheld the trial court's as well as the Bombay High Court's decision of awarding death sentence to Maharashtra resident Dupare in the 2008 rape and murder case.
The top court had on July 14, 2016, agreed to examine the plea of Dupare, who had claimed that he was not accorded a fair chance to put forth his arguments in the trial court which sentenced him to death.
While upholding the death penalty awarded to the convict, the top court had said the rape of a minor girl was "a monstrous burial of her dignity in darkness." The court had referred to the sequence of events in the case and said that the convict, who was a neighbour, lured the girl, raped her and then battered her to death using two heavy stones.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
4 held for sexually assaulting woman, girl on moving bus after social media alert in UP's Agra
Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
