Soumyadip Mullick | MP | 24 July 2025 | Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court has commuted the death sentence of two men convicted for the gang rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Jhargram district, sentencing them to life imprisonment without remission for 60 years.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi upheld the conviction but observed that the possibility of reformation of the convicts had not been conclusively ruled out, thus not justifying the death penalty under the “rarest of rare” doctrine.
According to the prosecution, the minor girl, aged five years and four months, went missing on the morning of November 7, 2021. Her body was recovered two days later from an agricultural field, based on information provided by the accused. Witnesses testified that the child was last seen with one of the appellants. A local shopkeeper stated that one of the accused bought a chocolate and a biri before leaving with the girl. Other eyewitnesses confirmed seeing them proceed toward a nearby field.
During the investigation, police recovered the victim’s body, a chocolate wrapper, a burnt biri stub, and a bamboo stick from the crime scene. A locket bearing the victim’s photograph was found at the house of the second appellant—these items were all recovered based on disclosures made by the convicts.
The trial court, in June 2024, had sentenced both men to death, convicting them of rape, murder, kidnapping, and destruction of evidence. An autopsy confirmed aggravated penetrative sexual assault and death due to strangulation, with the court noting that a bamboo stick had been forcibly inserted into the child’s private parts, calling it an act “which shocks the conscience.”
The High Court observed that the chain of circumstantial evidence was complete and the silence of the accused under criminal procedure strengthened the prosecution’s case. The charges were deemed proved beyond reasonable doubt.
However, while upholding the conviction, the Bench did not consider the case as falling under the “rarest of rare” category warranting capital punishment. It stated that life imprisonment must only be rejected when reformation is impossible, which the State had failed to conclusively prove.
Emphasizing the gravity and brutality of the offence, the Bench ruled that a sentence of 60 years without remission reflected both punishment and deterrence. Correctional authorities were instructed to update prison records accordingly to reflect the revised sentence.
