Guwahati: The Supreme Court freed three rape suspects on Monday who had been given the death penalty by the Delhi Court for the 2012 rape and murder of a 19-year-old in the Chhawala area of Delhi.
According to SC, the convicts were given “the benefit of the doubt” because the prosecution “failed to prove its case” against them.
According to reports, the defendants identified as Ravi Kumar, Rahul, and Vinod, were found guilty and given a death sentence by the trial court in 2014. In August 2014, the Delhi High Court upheld the death sentence by referring to the defendants as “predators” who were “looking for prey” and moving about the streets.
However, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice UU Lalit said that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against the three men and that the court acted like a ‘passive umpire’ while convicting them.
The top court stated that the prosecution was unable to prove the identity of the accused due to what it called “glaring failures” in the trial.
Moreover, it made note of the fact that 10 of the 49 witnesses who testified at the trial were not cross-examined.
“Courts should strictly decide cases on merits in accordance with law. Courts should not be influenced by any kind of outside moral pressures or otherwise,” the court said.
It’s noteworthy that the horrifying occurrence happened months before the Nirbhaya rape case.
Days after being abducted, a 19-year-old woman’s burned-out body was found in a field in the Rewari district of Haryana in February 2012.
During the investigation, it was revealed that the victim had alcohol placed in her intimate areas and that acid had been poured into her eyes.
The three defendants appealed the Delhi High Court’s decision to the Supreme Court, pleading for a lesser penalty after it had condemned them to death.
The Delhi Police has argued against a death penalty decrease in the SC. According to them, the crime was not only committed against the victim but also against society.
The defendants’ defence made a case to reduce their punishment based on their age, family history, and prior criminal record.
The victim’s parents expressed their “brokenness” over the ruling following the ruling by the top court, but they vowed to press on with their legal battle.
They said, “We came here for justice. This is a blind justice system.”