RAVI S/O ASHOK GHUMARE versus THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

Citation: [2019] 15 S.C.R. 712 · Decided: 03-10-2019 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: R.F. NARIMAN · Disposal: Disposed off

Cited by 1 judgment(s) · cites 17 · see the full citation network in Lexace

Judgment (excerpt)

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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2019] 15 S.C.R.
RAVI S/O ASHOK GHUMARE
v.
THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
(Criminal Appeal Nos. 1488-1489 of 2018)
OCTOBER 03, 2019
[R. F. NARIMAN, SURYA KANT
AND R. SUBHASH REDDY, JJ.]
Penal Code, 1860: ss.302, 363, 376 and 377 – Kidnapping,
rape/unnatural intercourse and murder of two year old girl –
Prosecution case was that on the fateful day, the victim child went
missing around 4.00 p.m. – During the search operations by police
and family members of the missing child, it surfaced that the
appellant was seen distributing chocolates to children around the
time the child went missing – Police reached the house of appellant
and nabbed the appellant red handed under the bed with the victim
child in naked condition – Trial court and High Court concurrently
held him guilty and awarded death sentence – Appeal against
conviction and sentence – Held: It stood conclusively established
that the victim child was brutally assaulted and subjected to vaginal
and unnatural intercourse – She was inflicted multiple injuries on
face, head, neck, external genitalia as well as inside the uterus
and urethra – Medical opinion was that death was due to throttling
– There was overwhelming eye-witness account, circumstantial
evidence, medical evidence and DNA analysis on record which
conclusively proved that it was appellant and he alone, who
committed the horrendous crime – Appellant had the special
knowledge as to in what circumstances the victim child suffered
multiple injuries – Burden to prove that those injuries were not
caused by him was on the appellant alone in view of s.106 of the
Evidence Act, which he miserably failed to discharge though the
evidence on record proved beyond doubt that the victim child was
in unlawful custody of the appellant from about 4.00 p.m. till she
breathed her last breath due to the beastly attack on her –
Conviction of appellant is upheld – Protection of Children from
Sexual Offences Act, 2012 – Protection of Children from Sexual
Offences Amendment Act, 2019.
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   [2019] 15 S.C.R. 712
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Sentence/Sentencing: Death sentence – Rape and murder of
two year old girl – Prayer for commutation of death sentence –
Held: The victim in this case was barely a two-year old baby girl
whom the appellant kidnapped and apparently kept on assaulting
over 4-5 hours till she breathed her last – Appellant who had no
control over his carnal desires surpassed all natural, social and
legal limits just to satiate his sexual hunger – He ruthlessly finished
a life which was yet to bloom – He, instead of showing fatherly
love, affection and protection to the child against the evils of the
society, rather made her the victim of lust – It’s a case where trust
was betrayed and social values were impaired – The unnatural sex
with a two-year old toddler exhibits a dirty and perverted mind,
showcasing a horrifying tale of brutality – The appellant
meticulously executed his nefarious design by locking one door
of his house from the outside and bolting the other one from the
inside so as to deceive people into believing that nobody was inside
– He was thus in his full senses while he indulged in this senseless
act – He showed no remorse or repentance for the gory crime,
rather he opted to remain silent in his 313 Cr.P.C. statement – His
deliberate, well-designed silence with a standard defence of ‘false’
accusation revealed his lack of kindness or compassion and would
lead to believe that he can never be reformed – That being so, case
for interference with the death sentence is not made out – Protection
of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 – Penal Code, 1860
– ss.302, 363, 376 and 377.
Criminal Law: Evidence – Motive – Though the High Court
observed that ‘satisfaction of lust’ and ‘removal of trace’ was the
appellant’s motive but motive is not an explicit requirement under
the Indian Penal Code, though ‘motive’ may be helpful in proving
the case of the prosecution in a case of circumstantial evidence –
The case in hand was not entirely based on circumstantial evidence
as there were reliable eye-witness depositions who had seen the
appellant committing the crime, may be in part – Such an
unshakable evidence with dense support of DNA test did not require
the definite determination of the motive of the appellant behind the
gruesome crime.
Sentence/Sentencing: Death sentence – Doctrine of
proportionality – The object and purpose of determining quantum
of sentence has to be ‘societ

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