There was a sad footnote to this story we missed. The year after, the
New Delhi High Court altered the decision to award the death penalty to life sentence for the offenders.
The
court proceedings, that detail the crime, makes pretty depressing reading.
We highlighted this case, where a Western female Brahma Kumari traveled to India alone on her way to Mount Abu and was brutally raped and murdered with evidence to suggest she put up a fight against her attackers, to raise the issue of the "magically" false confidences BKism fills adherents with. That is how they are constantly assured that the BK god spirit will look after and protect them, that all they need to do is remember their Baba god and somehow, magically, wonders will happen to prevent any harm from happening; and, consequently, they make poor decisions regarding their welfare.
Clearly this is not true.
It seems India got her headline about doing something to protect its reputation, and as soon as the media had moved on, turned its back on justice.
Just why the offenders should seek a life sentence in an Indian prison over death, I have no idea. The arguments of their lawyers are disgusting attempting to claim that the they were framed by the police in a bid to "solve" the case as soon as possible because a foreign woman was the victim, a face saving exercise conducted by the Delhi Police.
However, this was dismissed by the court of appeal, samples of semen taken from the deceased woman matching the DNA of the two drivers.
Life sentence in India appears to mean prisoners are eligible for release after 14 years.
46. "
It is clear that life imprisonment is the rule and death sentence is a rare exception. The Supreme Court has clearly indicated that a death sentence can be imposed only when life imprisonment appears to be an altogether inadequate punishment having regard to the relevant circumstances of the crime, and provided, and only provided the option to impose a sentence of imprisonment for life cannot be conscientiously exercised having regard to the nature and circumstances of the crime and all the relevant circumstances. We find that the present case does not fall within the category of rarest of the rare cases. Nor are we DEATH SENTENCE REF.2/08&CRLA Nos.768/08 & 90/09 Page No. 50 of 51 convinced that life imprisonment would be an altogether inadequate punishment. For these reasons, we are unable to confirm the death sentence awarded to the appellants by the learned Additional Sessions Judge.
47. Consequently, we alter the sentence from a death sentence in respect of both the appellants to a sentence of imprisonment for life insofar as the offence punishable under Section 302 IPC is concerned. The other sentences in respect of the other offences awarded by the learned Additional Sessions Judge are not disturbed.