Circumstances in favour of capital punishment for the four convicts in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case outweigh the reasons for taking a lenient view on the sentence, the Supreme Court today said.
A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said this while confirming the death sentence awarded to the four convicts by the Delhi High Court and the trial court.
"When we cautiously, consciously and anxiously weigh the aggravating circumstances and the mitigating factors, we are compelled to arrive at the singular conclusion that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances now brought on record.
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"Therefore, we conclude and hold that the High Court has correctly confirmed the death penalty and we see no reason to differ with the same," the bench also comprising justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan said.
The bench said the "brutal, barbaric and diabolic nature" of the crime could create "tsunami of shock" to destroy a civilised society.
Observing that the accused had found her as "an object for enjoyment" and "ravish her as they liked, treat her as they felt" to get "gross sadistic and beastly instinctual pleasure", the court said such acts were "bound to shock the collective conscience".
The mitigating factors which were highlighted before the court for taking a lenient view were that the convicts belonged to poor strata of society, aged parents, marital status, young children and that there was possibility of reformation.
The State, however, sought death penalty for them saying the case comes under the category of rarest of rare and referred to the reports of the jail superintendent that their conduct was absolutely non-satisfactory and non-cooperative and the diabolic nature of the crime has shaken the collective conscience.
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