The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday saved a man, Dinesh Vasava, from the gallows and sent him to 25-years in prison instead for raping an eight-year-old girl and throwing her in a well in 2014 in Aravalli district. The direction came from the division bench of Justice HN Devani and Justice VB Mayani which clarified that the man would not be able to avail the benefit of remission during his jail term.
The division bench quashed and set aside the death penalty awarded to Vasava by a sessions court in Modasa in September 2018, remarking that the case did not fall within the rarest of the rare category. The state government had moved the High Court for confirmation of the death penalty awarded by the lower court.
As per the case details, the minor girl was playing outside her house in Aravalli district, when Vasava lured her with money. He also offered her to buy something from the nearby pan kiosk. Thereafter, the girl was taken to a nearby field and raped. In haste, Vasava killed her by throwing her in a nearby well. The girl's body was recovered the next day and the other girls who were playing with the victim informed her father that Vasava had taken her and he was immediately arrested by the police.
