In the first instance of capital punishment in a fatal acid attack case in the country after the Criminal law (Amendment) Act, 2013 came into being, a special women’s court here on Thursday awarded death sentence to a 27 year-old man from Delhi for killing his neighbour Preeti Amarsingh Rathi after she rejected his marriage proposal and came to Mumbai to take up a nursing job.
Additional Sessions Judge Anju Shende held Holding Ankur Panwar, a 27-year-old hotel management graduate from the national capital, guilty of offences under section 302 (murder) and section 326 B (causing grievous hurt by throwing acid) of Indian Penal Code and handed out capital punishment to the latter.
"As per the mitigating and aggravating circumstances of the case, the accused is punishable under section 302 IPC and will be hanged by his neck till death, subject to confirmation by the Bombay High Court," the judge said.
Arguing that fatal acid attack on Preeti had a larger impact on the society, Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam had on Wednesday contended that the offence committed by Panwar fell under the rarest of the rare case and sought for the highest punishment under the Indian law.
“This is a fit case for death penalty where the manner in which the offence was committed and the exceptional cruel attitude of the accused are aggravating circumstances,” Nikam had said.
Preeti’s father Amar Singh Rathi, who was a witness in the case, to ohad demanded capital punishment for Panwar.
However, Panwar's lawyer Apeksha Vora had pleaded leniency for her client, citing his young age and stating that he was the sole breadwinner for his family.
Talking to “The Pioneer” in the evening, Special Public Prosector Ujjwal Nikam said: “This is the first case of death penalty in an acid attack case in the country after theCriminal law (Amendment) Act, 2013 came into being. This verdict will send message to the society and prove to be deterrent to people with Panwar-like tendencies”.
Preeti — who had suffered grievous injuries after an unidentified miscreant hurled Sulphuric acid on her when she arrived here on May 2, 2013 from the national capital along with her family members to take up a job –died at the Bombay Hospital here on June 1, 2013.
Preeti, who had arrived in the city along with her father, sister and other family members to join the Colaba Naval Hospital Rs INS Ashwini' as a staff nurse, awaited a shock, as she arrived at Bandra railway station from Delhi by Garib Rath Express. A miscreant who --who had covered his face with a handkerchief – threw acid at her and her other family members and ran away.
She suffered for a month...both her eyes were damaged because of the acid attack, she could not speak, she died of multi-organ failure...it was a brutal crime because of jealousy," Nikam said. .
According to Nikam, Panwar had a one-sided love affair with the victim. He asked Preeti not to go to Mumbai, but the girl had rejected her marriage proposal. Out of jealousy, he attacked her with acid, which he purchased from Delhi and followed her to Mumbai,” Nikam said.
In its order, the Special Court held Panwar guilty of causing the death of Preeti, but it also convicted him under section 326-B of the IPC for causing burns to the victim woman’s family members Amarsingh (56, Sunita Vinodkumar Dahiya (35), Sudeshakumari D Singh(24) and Sameer Shaikh (22).
The investigations revealed that Panwar, whom the police arrested within weeks after the incident, had followed Preeti to Mumbai. The attack was a fall-out of unrequited love. Preeti had not only spurned love expressed by Panwar, but she had also rejected outright the latter’s proposal to marry her. The investigators had produced 300-odd SMSes sent by Panwar to the victim woman.
In April 2014, the Mumbai Police had filed a 1332-page charge-sheet against Panwar, a hotel management graduate.
During the course of trial that lasted for one and a half years, the Prosecution examined 37 witnesses, including five eye witnesses and 11 doctors, in its effort to nail Panwar for the heinous crime committed by him.
During the trial, the Prosecutor told the court that Panwar’s call data records were tallied with the railway time tables and established that showed that he had travelled on the same train as the victim on May 2 and was present at the crime scene. Among other things, Preeti had confided to a friend about the death threats she got from Panwar.
Panwar’s family members they would the Bombay move High Court against his conviction and would also plead transfer of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
“I am fully satisfied by the verdict. Justice has been done to our daughter. If the convict (Panwar) wants to move to a higher including the Supreme cour. We will fight it out against Panwar in the Supreme Court as well,” slain Preeti’s father Amar Singh Rathi there.
Panwar, currently lodged at the Arthur Road Jail, lived near Preeti’s neighbourhood in Narela, Delhi. He used to work as chef in a star hotel in the national capital.
Defence lawyer Apeksha Vora had claimed that Preeti died due to medical negligence. She said her client had been falsely implicated because he was arrested seven months after the incident took place.
In a related development, a district legal services authority has asked the Maharashtra government to pay a compensation of Rs two lakh to Rathi’s parents, and another Rs 2000 for the expenses of her funeral. Her parents had applied to the authority for compensation.