New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday confirmed the death sentence on a Mumbai man for raping and killing a four-year-old girl.
The convict, Vasanta Sampat Dupare, lured the victim by giving chocolates, and hit her with a heavy stone after raping the child.
A three-judge Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Rohinton Nariman and Uday Lalit dismissed Dupare’s review petition.
It said material on record showed that the convict was acquainted with the people of his area and had access to the house of the deceased’s father. The child even used to call him “uncle”, the Supreme Court said.
It is an act of taking advantage of absolute innocence, the court said. Justice Lalit said the injuries the girl suffered will shock society.
Referring to the convict’s plea for leniency, the bench said it did not find any mitigating circumstances in favour of the convict for awarding lesser punishment.
“We have given anxious consideration to the material on record, but find that the aggravating circumstances… and the fact that the victim was a helpless girl of four years, clearly outweigh the mitigating circumstances now brought on record,” the court said.
“We, therefore, affirm the view taken in the judgement under review and dismiss the present review petitions,” the court said.
