Sisters who killed 5 children get lifer

January 18, 2022 14:06

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit, who were convicted by a Kolhapur court for kidnapping 14 children and killing five of them between 1990 and 1996.

A bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal noted that the Maharashtra and Union governments had inordinately delayed the execution of the death sentence awarded to the two women even though their mercy petition filed before the President was rejected in 2014.

Such delay was the reason for commuting their death sentence to life imprisonment, the High Court said, noting that it showed the "casual approach" of the state and Union governments.

The bench further said that the primary reason for its decision to commute the death sentence was the "dereliction of duty of the state machinery".

The two women, who have been in custody since October 1996, had in 2014 petitioned the High Court to commute the death sentence to life term, citing unreasonable delay by the state in dealing with their mercy petitions. The sisters had said that such delay violated their fundamental right to life. The convict women, in their plea in the High Court, said they had been living under the fear of death for more than 13 years from the time that the High Court and Supreme Court confirmed their death sentence.

The delay in deciding the mercy petitions was entirely attributable to the executive, including the Maharashtra governor, state government, Ministry of Home Affairs and the President of India, they stated.

On Tuesday, the bench of Justices Jamdar and Kotwal said, "The inordinate delay in executing the death sentence even after their (Shinde and Gavit) mercy petition was rejected shows the casual approach of state officers."

"The state machinery showed indifference. That it took over seven years for movement of files is unacceptable. Dereliction of duty of the state is the reason for commuting the death sentence," it said.

The sessions court in Kolhapur had convicted the accused and sentenced them to death in 2001. The death sentence was confirmed by the High Court in 2004 and thereafter by the Supreme Court in 2006. -- PTI

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