Faizabad Rape and Murder Case: The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 02, 2025) canceled the life imprisonment of a person considering him a minor in the case of rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in 2013 in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh and ordered his release.
The Supreme Court accepted the report which said that the culprit was a minor at the time of the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh in 2013. The bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar canceled the life imprisonment given to the convict by the Allahabad High Court.
Lower court had given death sentence
On May 17, 2018, the lower court had sentenced him to death in the rape and murder case. After this, the case was sent to Allahabad High Court for confirmation of the sentence under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The Lucknow bench of the High Court converted the death sentence to life imprisonment.
The culprit was a minor at the time of the crime
Taking note of the appeals, the top court had asked the Faizabad-based Juvenile Justice Board to conduct proper verification of the age of the accused and submit a report on his claim of being a juvenile. On Thursday, the bench reviewed the report, which said that records showed that the convict was born on July 5, 1995 and was below 18 years of age on the date of offense on January 1, 2013.
The bench said, “The counsel for the state of Uttar Pradesh has not opposed the report given by the Juvenile Justice Board.” We have also examined that report and the reasons given therein and have found no basis or reason for adopting a different view. Accordingly, the appellant is directed to be treated as a juvenile on the date of occurrence/incident of the offence.
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