No mercy for man convicted in raping, killing 4-year-old girl; President rejects mercy plea

President Droupadi Murmu showed no mercy on a man convicted for raping a 4-year-old girl and stoning her to death in Maharashtra in 2008 by rejecting his mercy petition, said the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On March 28, the Union Home Ministry sent a recommendation to the President’s secretariat regarding the matter.

"The mercy petition was rejected by the President (on April 10)," stated a statement on the status of the mercy petition, updated as on April 28 by the President's secretariat.

On May 3, the Supreme Court had dismissed the review petition of accused Vasanta Sampat Dupare, who was then 55-year-old, and upheld his capital punishment.

In 2017, the Apex Court held that "the aggravating circumstances and the barbaric manner in which the four-year-old was killed, clearly outweigh the mitigating circumstances".

In November 2014, the top court upheld the verdict of the trial court and Bombay High Court, awarding capital punishment to Dupare in the 2008 rape and murder case of a minor girl.

In 2016, the accused pleaded in the top court that he was not given a fair chance to present his arguments in the trial court, which sentenced him to death, to which the court agreed to examine the plea.

The top court, while affirming the death penalty given to the accused, stated that the rape of a minor girl was "a horrific burial of her dignity in darkness."

The court outlined the events of the case and noted that the perpetrator, who was the victim's neighbour, enticed and raped the girl before brutally killing her with the help of two large stones.

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