The father of the eight-year-old girl, who was raped and murdered in J&K’s Kathua district last year, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday seeking enhancement of sentence imposed on six convicts and also challenging the acquittal of one accused.
The petitioner has requested the court to enhance thesentence of Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar from life imprisonmentto capital punishment, his counsel Utsav Bains said.
“It is rarest of the rare case and as per the standards setby the Supreme Court, that case of rape and murder by a gang of a minor childcomes under this category more so when the manner of committing crime exhibitscomplete insensitivity, cruelty, depravity and perversion,” the petition stated.
The petitioner has also requested the court to enhance thesentence of three other convicts — Surinder Kumar, Tilak Raj and Anand Dutta— from five years in jail to life imprisonment.
Last month, a court in Pathankot had awarded lifeimprisonment till last breath to Sanji Ram, the mastermind and caretaker of the’devasthanam’ (temple) where the crime took place in January last year, DeepakKhajuria, a special police officer, and Parvesh Kumar, a civilian for thegang-rape and murder of the minor.
They were convicted under Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) sectionsrelating to criminal conspiracy, murder, kidnapping, gang-rape, destruction ofevidence, drugging the victim and common intention.
The trial court, while acquitting Vishal Jangotra, son ofSanji Ram, had sentenced three other men — sub inspector Anand Dutta, headconstable Tilak Raj and special police officer Surender Verma — to five yearsin jail.”We have also appealed against the wrongfulacquittal of Vishal Jangotra in the case,” the counsel said. The father of thedeceased girl has also sought exemplary compensation for the family, Bainssaid.