Jammu, Apr 4: In a landmark judgement, a court in Jammu on Wednesday awarded death sentence to an accused of committing murder of a child while another accused has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
 The Principal Sessions Judge Jammu, Jang Bahadur Singh Jamwal awarded the death sentence to Muhammad Yousuf Shah of Palhel Colony in Nowabad Bathandi here for committing murder of a child, Owaise Rashid.
 In the 77-page judgment, the Principal Sessions Judge Jammu observed that the convict has committed a heinous crime and shall be hanged by neck till death.
 The court also awarded under different sections of RPC other punishments including life imprisonment besides seven years imprisonment to the convict and all the sentences will run concurrently.
 The prosecution investigation revealed that the accused Yousuf Shah on March 12, 2003 called deceased Owaise Rashid, to his house at Bathindi in Jammu and committed sodomy with him.”
 “And when Owaise Rashid called for help, the accused strangulated his neck with a towel with the result he died on spot,” the investigation revealed.
 After that the accused  wiped his semen with a piece of cloth of cream colour and had kept it in kitchen. Then he put the dead body  in the Gunny bag and kept it in a store over the bathroom, revealed the investigation.
 “He then went to Bari Brahmana to his relative Saleem Khan and another accused Sohan Lal and hatched a conspiracy with them to destroy  the body,” the prosecution argued.
 On the same day at about 8.45 PM, accused  Khan and Sohan Lal came at the residence of Yousuf with matador and the body was loaded in it and while the vehicle was heading towards Railway crossing, police suspected some foul play and intercepted the matador and the accused were caught.
 After completion of investigation, a challan was presented in the Court under various criminal sections of RPC.
 In its Judgment, the court observed that “the deceased even did not know how to resist the accused and was incapable of defending himself. The children at such a tender age are prone to tutorship and are swayed by such kind of criminals on one pretext or the other”.
 “The accused has committed an act which is not permissible under law. The society at large would not agree with the lesser punishment provided to the convict,” the court said.
 “For such a heinous crime, the lesser punishment will be an injustice to the departed soul. The violence against the children and a sexual abuse in particular is a greatest sin on the earth. I am conscious of the fact that more than 97 countries in the World have terminated the capital punishment out of their statutes but the fact  remains that many countries have kept the same constitutionally valid,” the Judge said in his order.
 “The beastly conduct of the accused to commit sodomy on a small child and then murdering him  has given me a thought that such kind of criminals cannot be reformed by rehabilitation or by other means of the state,” the court held.
 It said a person who has taken the life of such a small child for fulfilling his overt sexual lust has no right to live on this earth.
 The other accused Sohan Lal is guilty of assisting and disposing of the body of the deceased deserves lesser punishment and he shall suffer rigorous imprisonment for seven years.
 The Court issued General Arrest Warrants against Saleem Khan.
 Meanwhile, the family of  Owaise Rashid hailed the court judgment and appreciated the prosecution team  which investigated the case.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 Apr 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 4 Apr 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 5 Apr 2012 00:00:00 IST