On June 20th, the Orissa High Court changed Sheikh Asif Ali’s death penalty to a life sentence. Asif was found guilty of raping and murdering a six-year-old girl.
The court mentioned that Asif prayed several times daily and was willing to accept his punishment because he felt he had surrendered to God. Seeing his willingness as a sign of regret and a chance to change, the court decided to commute his sentence.
Justice SK Sahoo and Justice RK Pattnaik said that the punishment shouldn’t be much harsher than what is deserved for the crime. They also noted no clear evidence that the punished person cannot change for the better. As a result, they changed the death sentence to life imprisonment.
The Incident
On August 21st, 2014, a young girl and her cousin went to buy chocolates around 2 PM. When the girl did not return by 3 PM, her family became worried and enlisted the help of villagers to search for her.
The 6-year-old girl was found naked and unconscious in a narrow part of Sheikh Khairuddin’s house. She was quickly taken to a health care centre and referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Sadly, she succumbed to her injuries on the way to the hospital.
The victim’s family reported that Sheikh Asif Ali and Sheikh Akil Ali forcibly took the victim away. The family filed a complaint, leading to a case being registered against the accused for murder (Section 302), gang rape (Section 376-D), child sexual abuse (Section 376-A) under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sexual offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (Section 6).
The investigation and autopsy report revealed that the accused gagged and abducted the 6-year-old victim, sexually assaulted her, and then strangled her to death.
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Trial and Observations by the Orissa High Court
After re-examining the evidence and testimonies, the Orissa High Court acquitted Sheikh Akil Ali of all charges due to lack of evidence.
The court found Sheikh Asif Ali guilty under sections 302, 376-A of the IPC and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Still, it acquitted him of the charge under section 376-D of the IPC due to a lack of evidence from the prosecution.
Rationale for Reducing the Sentence
While changing the sentence, the Orissa High Court pointed out that there wasn’t enough clear evidence to show that Asif couldn’t change and improve. The court stressed that the most severe punishment should only be given in the rarest cases where life imprisonment isn’t enough.
The court recognized the severe nature of the rape of a young girl. Still, it emphasized that the case was based on circumstantial evidence and lacked premeditation.
The court said, “Based on the decisions we discussed earlier, the evidence shows that a very young girl, about six years old, was the victim of a terrible, evil, and brutal crime. However, there is only circumstantial evidence in this case and no proof that the crime was planned in advance.”
The court noted that the appellants encountered the deceased and her cousin while returning from buying chocolates. The appellants then abducted the deceased and subjected her to rape, resulting in injuries to her body and fatal injuries to her genital tract, leading to her death from shock and haemorrhage.
The court also observed that the appellants did not harm the minor cousin despite being aware that the cousin could have exposed their crimes to the family and others. This suggests that the appellants’ intention was solely to harm the deceased, and they took steps to avoid detection by sparing the cousin.
