The prosecution today sought death penalty for a man, convicted for rape and murder of a software engineer hailing from Andhra Pradesh in the city last year, while her father backed the demand saying it would deter future criminals.
Special prosecutor Raja Thakare told the special women’scourt here that Chandrabhan Sanap has been convicted under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 376A (while committing rape, inflicting an injury that causes woman’s death) which attracts the death penalty and “to maintain respect for the law it is essential that the punishment inflicted for grave crimes should adequately reflect the revulsion felt by the great majority of citizens”.
Underling the fact that Sanap had married thrice, Thakare said it showed that he was a womaniser and committed the rape to satisfy his lust, hence he had lost the right to live in the society.
Sympathy to him would send a wrong signal and neither the victim’s parents nor the society would feel that justice has been done, said the prosecutor.
Defence lawyer Prakash Salsingikar pleaded for leniency, saying that Sanap was in his early 30s and he was recently cured of tuberculosis. He also has his wife, old parents and two children to look after. Further, his jail record was clean, the lawyer added.
The judge is likely to pronounce the sentence on October 30.
Before the arguments started today, Sanap broke down when the judge called him to the witness box. He didn’t say anything about the punishment.
Speaking to PTI in Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, the victim’s father S Jonathan Surendra Prasad said he wanted his daughter’s murderer to get the maximum punishment as it will serve as a deterrence in future.