Hyderabad: Hyderabad High Court upheld life conviction on a person who brutally killed a five-year-old after raping her in Toopran police station limits in 2011.
The bench said, “To our disappointment, we noticed that there is a marked rise in sexual assaults against women and infants in recent times. Before closing the case, we would be failing in our duty if we do not articulate our concern on the prevailing situation.”
During the hearing, the bench said it honestly felt that the lower court ought to have imposed capital punishment on the appellant for “the barbaric manner in which he committed the offence against an innocent child who could not sense the beast in disguise and fell prey to the façade of affection” displayed by the appellant.
It made clear that it refrained from issuing notice for enhancement of the sentence due to the long lapse after the incident and the conviction of the appellant.
The bench observed, “We are extremely concerned for and our conscience is disturbed at the brazen manner in which crimes are being perpetrated on helpless women and innocent children. It is unthinkable that a man would develop sexual desire towards a tender-aged child, considered as a Gift of the Almighty. The sexual assaults even on infants leave us to wonder as to how the moral standards of men are falling to the depths of degradation.”
Referring to cases where courts had expressed anguish and deep concern for the crimes against the women and children and imposed capital punishment in appropriate cases, the bench said cases of this nature must be an eye-opener to the investigating and prosecuting agencies.
It felt no woman or child would be safe and secure in this country unless stringent measures were taken which would act as deterrence on ‘rogues in the society’ to prevent recurrence of the offences.
The bench said the executive governments of states must introspect and take all measures to curb effectively the menace against the weak and the meek in society.
