SC upholds release of convict after pardon by rape victim

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld the release of a 19-year-old convict on probation after the woman he had raped decided to pardon him so that he could reform himself.

A bench headed by Justice S B Sinha dismissed Haryana government’s appeal filed against the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court, which had held that the lower court rightly released the convict, considering the noble gesture of pardon by the victim.
The State Government, in its appeal, had said that courts cannot extend the benefit of probation to those who have been convicted for grave offences such as rape and murder which prescribes life imprisonment or death penalty as maximum punishment.
Rajesh (19), a resident of Rohtak in Haryana who was found guilty of raping an elderly woman, was let off by the local court which considered the “noble gesture” of the victim who said that she was willing to pardon the young offender so that he could reform himself.
The state appealed against the verdict to the High Court which put its stamp of approval over the trial court’s release order.
The Supreme Court also upheld the lower courts’ verdicts in the case.
An FIR was lodged in January 1996 alleging that the youth and a juvenile co-accused had raped the old woman at the Mahila Ashram in Rohtak on January 15, 1996.
Sify news; Sunday, 16 March , 2008, 11:03