Supreme Court stays execution of convict who raped and killed 4-year-old

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the execution of a death row convict who was earlier sent to gallows by it for raping and later killing a four-year-old girl in Mumbai in 2008.

Vasanta Sampat Dupare, 55, had filed a petition seeking the court to review its November 2014 judgment, saying before dismissal of his appeal the police had failed to place before the court the original records.

A three-judge bench, headed by justice Deepak Misra, asked the state government to provide copy of evidences and exhibits to the death row convict and decided to hear the review plea on April 12. The court also agreed to hear the plea in open, and ordered the public prosecutor to remain present on the day.

"You (lawyer) satisfy us as to how our judgment was wrong. Till that time the execution of sentence will remain stayed," the court said.

The apex court, on November 26, 2014, had rejected the appeal of Dupare against the Bombay High Court verdict upholding his death penalty, awarded by the trial court, in the case, saying "the injuries caused on the minor girl are likely to send a chill in the spine of the society and shiver in the marrows of human conscience."

Describing rape of a child as "an anathema to the social balance", and offender as a "menace to the society," the top court in its verdict had used strong words against Dupare.

"The rape of a minor girl child is nothing but a monstrous burial of her dignity in darkness. It is a crime against the holy body of a girl child and the soul of the society and such a crime is aggravated by the manner in which it has been committed."