Bhubaneswar: The Orissa High Court has commuted the death sentence of a 50-year-old man, convicted of murdering his wife and attempting to kill their minor daughter, Tuesday, holding that despite the “extremely barbaric” nature of the crime, the case did not qualify as one of the “rarest of rare” cases warranting capital punishment.
A Division Bench of Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Sashikanta Mishra modified the death sentence awarded by the 2nd Additional Sessions Judge, Bhubaneswar, and sentenced Sanjeet Dash to life imprisonment, stipulating that he must serve at least 35 years in custody before becoming eligible for consideration of remission under law.
The HC was hearing the death reference submitted by the trial court under Section 366 of the CrPC, along with Dash’s appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Dash had been convicted under Sections 302, 307, 324 and 326 of the IPC for murdering his wife Saraswati alias Tikili and attacking their daughter Shree alias Pari with a knife.
According to the prosecution, Dash had married Saraswati about six years before the incident June 9, 2022, and the couple frequently quarrelled over money.
On the day of the incident, he allegedly attacked his wife with a knife, inflicting multiple stab wounds, and then slit the throat of their six-year old daughter before fleeing.
During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to picking up a knife from the kitchen and attacking his wife and daughter.
The prosecution also relied on witness testimony, fingerprint analysis and forensic evidence.
The HC found the evidence sufficient to establish Dash’s involvement, particularly relying on the child witness, who testified that her father had killed her mother and slit her throat.
The Bench rejected the defence contention that the child had been tutored.
While upholding the murder conviction, the Bench held that the trial court had failed to properly balance aggravating and mitigating circumstances before imposing the death penalty.
The deceased had suffered 49 stab wounds and died of haemorrhage and shock.
The court observed that although the crime was “extremely barbaric, brutal” and reflected a “heightened sense of depravity”, sentencing could not be based on moral or emotional considerations alone.
It held that the mitigating circumstances outweighed the aggravating factors and the case did not meet the “rarest of rare” threshold.
The court confirmed the convictions under Sections 302 and 307 IPC but set aside those under Sections 324 and 326 IPC.
The death sentence was accordingly modified to life imprisonment with the 35-year minimum custody stipulation.
The Bench also directed the State to pay Rs 10 lakh each to Dash’s two minor daughters, aged 10 and four years.
The amount, along with Rs 5 lakh each earlier awarded by the DL SA, Khordha, is to be kept in fixed deposits until they attain majority.
The DLSA was di rected to monitor their welfare through para-legal volunteers.
