2013 Shakti Mills Gang Rape: Death Penalties Of Three Convicts Commuted To Life Imprisonment

Bombay High Court commuted the death penalty awarded to three convicts in the 2013 Shakti Mills gang rape case to life imprisonment.

A division bench of Justices Sadhana Jadhav and Prithviraj Chavan commuted the sentences of Vijay Jadhav, Mohammad Qasim Shaikh and Mohammad Ansar from the death penalty to life imprisonment for the remainder of their lives stating that they "deserve imprisonment for life to repent the offence committed by them".

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What the bench said

The bench, while pronouncing its order said that it cannot ignore the fact that the offence has shocked the collective conscience of the society and rape is a violation of human rights, but the sentence of death is irrevocable.

"The court cannot ignore the fact that the offence has shocked the conscious of society...Rape is a violation of human rights. But this is a constitutional court..sentence of death is irrevocable," the HC said.

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"Death puts an end to the concept of repentance...It cannot be said the accused deserved only the death penalty. They deserved religious imprisonment for life to repent for the offence committed by them. Not to assimilate into society. There is no scope of reformation," the order said further.

It added that the convict shall not be entitled for parole or furlough as they cannot be allowed to assimilate in the society and as there is no scope for reformation.

What happened in 2014?

In March 2014, the trial court had convicted four persons for gangraping a 22-year-old photo-journalist inside the abandoned Shakti Mills compound in central Mumbai on August 22, 2013.

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The court had then imposed death penalty on three of the convicts as they were also convicted for gang-raping a 19-year-old telephone operator at the same place months before raping the photojournalist.

The trio was awarded death penalty under the amended section 376 (e) of IPC which says maximum sentence of life or death can be awarded to repeat offenders.

The fourth convict, Siraj Khan, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and a minor accused was sent to a correctional facility.

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They were arrested for sexually assaulting a photojournalist in 2013 at the deserted Shakti Mills compound, near Mahalaxmi in South Mumbai, with a male colleague on an assignment.

The five accused in the case, including two juveniles, allegedly tied up the male colleague and took turns raping the photojournalist while holding a broken beer bottle to her neck to keep her from shouting for help.

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