Holding that the crime committed by the convicted security guard did not fall under the “rarest of rare” category, a city sessions court on Monday sentenced Ahmed Mughal, alias Pathan, to life imprisonment for killing 25-year-old lawyer Pallavi Purkayastha, daughter of a senior New Delhi-based IAS officer, in her 16th floor flat at Wadala in north-central Mumbai in August 2012.
“Considering the mitigating and aggravating circumstances, I am of the opinion that the case does not fall under the ‘rarest of rare’ category,” Sessions Judge Vrushali Joshi said while pronouncing the quantum of punishment. The court also handed over different punishments to 22-year-old Mughal for molestation and criminal trespass.
Mughal requested the court to give him minimum sentence. To this, the judge said, “I am giving you the minimum punishment, while the Section provides for capital punishment as the maximum sentence.” However, Pallavi’s father, Atanu Purkayastha, expressed disappointment over the sentencing. “My daughter was a strong girl and put up a brave fight, even as she was stabbed 16 times. If this is not the rarest of rare case, then what is IJ” he said.