Maha govt tells HC it supports 2001 death sentence to two sisters accused of kidnapping killing children
Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it supported the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit convicted for the abduction of 14 children and murder of five of them between 1990 and 1996 despite the delayThe sessions court had awarded them the capital punishment in 2001 for the heinous crime which had sent shockwaves across MaharashtraPublic prosecutor Aruna Pai made the statement on behalf of the government before a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal which had asked the state to put forth its stand while reserving order on the review petition last SaturdayConsidering the seriousness of the crime we support the death sentence in spite of delay If the court is commuting it to a life sentence it should be till the end of their natural life Pai saidShinde and Gavit were tried for kidnapping 14 children and murdering five of them in Kolhapur They were convicted in 2001 In 2004 the high court confirmed their death sentence and in 2006 the Supreme Court too upheld itBut the duo who have been in custody since October 1996 in 2014 filed a review petition in the high court seeking commutation of the death penalty citing delay by the state in dealing with their mercy petitions as the ground The delay violated their fundamental right to life they contendedThe high court had earlier remarked that there had been an inordinate delay of over eight years in deciding the mercy petitionsThe HC will pass order on the petition in due coursePTI AYA KRK KRK
Mumbai Dec 22 PTI The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that it supported the death sentence awarded to sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit convicted for the abduction of 14 children and murder of five of them between 1990 and 1996 despite the delayThe sessions court had awarded them the capital punishment in 2001 for the heinous crime which had sent shockwaves across MaharashtraPublic prosecutor Aruna Pai made the statement on behalf of the government before a bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and S V Kotwal which had asked the state to put forth its stand while reserving order on the review petition last SaturdayConsidering the seriousness of the crime we support the death sentence in spite of delay If the court is commuting it to a life sentence it should be till the end of their natural life Pai saidShinde and Gavit were tried for kidnapping 14 children and murdering five of them in Kolhapur They were convicted in 2001 In 2004 the high court confirmed their death sentence and in 2006 the Supreme Court too upheld itBut the duo who have been in custody since October 1996 in 2014 filed a review petition in the high court seeking commutation of the death penalty citing delay by the state in dealing with their mercy petitions as the ground The delay violated their fundamental right to life they contendedThe high court had earlier remarked that there had been an inordinate delay of over eight years in deciding the mercy petitionsThe HC will pass order on the petition in due coursePTI AYA KRK KRK
