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Preeti Rathi acid attack: Mumbai court sentences accused Panwar to death

Rathi had died of multiple organ failure after Panwar threw acid on her on May 2, 2013 at the Bandra railway station.

Mumbai: 26-year-old Ankur Lal Panwar, convicted of murdering nurse Preeti Rathi in Mumbai in 2013, was on Thursday awarded capital punishment by a Mumbai sessions court.

The prosecution on Wednesday had demanded death penalty for the convict, who had thrown acid on Rathi leading to severe burn injuries, which caused her death by multiple organ failure a few weeks later.

Special Judge A S Shende, who convicted Panwar on Tuesday, heard the prosecution and the defence on the point of sentence.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had termed the case fit for death sentence, saying that it falls in the "rarest of the rare" category.

Objective of the sentencing is to deter criminals and like-minded persons from committing such crime, he said, contending that "the court would be failing in its duty if a just and appropriate punishment was not awarded".

Nikam submitted that the country has now become so conscious about crime against women that after the Delhi gangrape case of 2012, amendments were made to IPC.

Acid attack is a crime against women, he said, seeking an exemplary punishment for the convict.

Panwar did not commit the crime on the spur of the moment but it was a pre-planned attack, said the prosecutor.

"If he is given a lesser punishment and if he is released after completing the sentence, other girls would not be safe," Nikam said.

Meanwhile, the district legal services authority has asked the Maharashtra government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakh to Rathi's parents, besides another Rs 2000 for the expenses of her funeral. Her parents had applied to the authority for compensation.

( Source : deccan chronicle )
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