VASANT SAMPAT DUPARE Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In these two appeals, we are required to deal with a sordid and despicable act of a married man who, at the time of incident was in wedlock for more than two scores having a criminal background, has yielded not only to the inferior endowments of nature but also has exhibited the gratification of pervert lust and brutish carnality. The prey of such degradation and depravity was a minor girl aged about four years, daughter of Pinki, PW-1, and Krushna, PW-4. The appellant, as per the prosecution version, after satisfying his uncontrolled, insatiable and rapacious savage desire, battered the girl to death. This led to his facing trial for the offences punishable under Sections 302, 376(2)(f), 363, 367 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code (for short, "IPC") in Sessions Trial No. 252/2008 before the Learned Additional Sessions Judge, Nagpur, who considering the evidence on record and keeping in view the nature of the crime vide judgment dated 23.02.2012 after recording the conviction in respect of aforesaid offences, imposed the death sentence, apart from other punishment in respect of other offences and sent, as required under Section 366(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (for short, "CrPC"), for confirmation by the High Court. The judgment of conviction and the order of sentence was challenged by the appellant in Criminal Appeal No. 112/2012 and it was heard along with the Criminal Confirmation Case No.1 of 2012 wherein the Division Bench of the High Court confirmed the sentence of death awarded by the trial Court and as a logical corollary dismissed the criminal appeal preferred by him. The said judgment is the subject of assailment in the present appeal.

(2.) According to the prosecution case on 3.4.2008 about 9-10 p.m., informant, Krushna Dudhraj Sharma, father of the deceased, lodged a report at the police station Wadi stating that he was staying in a tenanted house with his wife and two daughters, the kidnapped girl aged about 4 years and her sister aged about six months. One Subhash Sonawane was residing along with his wife and son in the neighbourhood of the informant as a tenant of the common landlord, Kushal Bansod. The appellant, Vasanta Dupare, a friend of Subhash Sonawane, was a frequent visitor to the house of Subhash.

(3.) As the prosecution version further undrapes, on the same day, Santosh Ghatekar, PW-13, Assistant Police Inspector, while returning to the police station, received the information that the appellant was moving around Gati Godown located on Khadgaon Road, and he passed on the said information to Police Inspector D.J. Chauhan, PW-16, and eventually the appellant was apprehended and brought to the police station. While in police custody, on 4.4.2008, he took the investigating agency to the spot where he had after ravishing the minor girl child had murdered her. A memorandum of panchnama to that effect was prepared in the morning of 4.4.2008 and thereafter he led the police to the place of incident wherefrom the dead body of the minor girl was recovered. At his instance, the bicycle used was recovered from the godown located in between Khadgaon to Kamleshwar road belonging to one Ashwin Prakash Agrawal. Thereafter, the initial offence registered under Section 363 IPC was converted to offences under Section 376(2)(f), 367, 302 and 201 of the IPC. The Investigating Agency examined number of witnesses under Section 161 CrPC and completed all the formalities and laid the chargesheet before the competent court which in turn committed the matter to the Court of Session.