Plea seeks confirmation of death to rapists

Mumbai: A petition seeking confirmation of the capital punishment awarded to three common convicts of the Shakti Mills gangrape cases has been filed in the Bombay High Court. As per the law, a death sentence awarded by the trial court has to be confirmed by the HC.

The petition, filed by the state government on April 15, will come up for hearing in due course. The convicts are yet to file appeal against the conviction.

On April 4 this year, sessions court convicted Vijay Jadhav, 19, Mohammad Kasim Bengali, 21, Mohammad Salim Ansari, 28, and Siraj Khan for raping a photojournalist on the deserted premises of the defunct Shakti Mills in central Mumbai on August 22, 2013.

While Siraj was awarded life imprisonment, the other three were awarded death penalty under the provisions of section 376 (e) of Indian Penal Code, which provides for the maximum sentence of death for a repeat offence of rape. Jadhav, Bengali and Ansari were earlier convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the court for gangrape of another girl on the same premises in July, 2013.