More than seven years after a trial court treated them as “repeat offenders” and handed out the first-ever capital punishment to them under new provision 376 (E) of the IPC, the Bombay High Court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of three “common” convicts in the twin 2013 Shakti Mill gangrape cases to life imprisonment.
“Death puts an end to the whole concept of repentance, any sufferings and mental agony,” said the HC.
The three convicts Vijay Jadhav (19), Mohammad Qasim Shaikh alias Qasim Bengali (21) and Mohammad Ansari (28)— whose death sentences have been commuted to life — are common convicts in both the July 31, 2013 telephone operator and August 22, 2013 photojournalist gangrape cases.