Mumbai, Apr 15 A court here on Wednesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for the murder of a three-year-old boy in 2017.
It ruled that the act of the accused though "intentional" doesn't fall into the "rarest of rare" category to warrant a death penalty.
Additional Sessions Judge Mahesh Jadhav found the accused Nitin Pathare (44) guilty of offences committed under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence).
The case dated back to August 2017, when the victim's mother Afsana Qureshi had come to Mumbai, seeking financial help from her estranged husband, but he refused to pay the amount.
The woman was returning home in Nashik when she met Pathare on board the train.
As per the prosecution, Pathare, after enquiring about the woman's condition, gained her trust by offering legal assistance through an advocate.
When the woman came to the city to meet the lawyer, the accused convinced her to stay at his residence in Ghatkopar with her two young children Tamanna (5) and Ahil (3). However, Pathare confined the family, assaulting them and using the children as leverage to prevent Afsana from leaving, the prosecution said.
As per the complaint, on September 28, 2017, while Afsana was out looking for work, Pathare brutally attacked young Ahil.
According to the testimony of the victim's surviving sister, Tamanna, Pathare became enraged when Ahil accidentally broke a cup of tea.
Pathare beat the toddler with a belt, strangulated him, and slammed him onto the floor, the witness said.
Medical evidence confirmed the horrific nature of the death, citing "strangulation with head injury".
In an attempt to cover up the crime, Pathare forced Afsana to accompany him to a remote area near Haji Malang, where he buried the child's body in a shallow pit, the prosecution said.
Days later, he returned to the site to dig a deeper pit and rebury the body to prevent it from being discovered by animals.
The crime finally came to light on October 3, 2017, after Pathare assaulted Afsana and Tamanna again.
Afsana managed to escape the house and sought help from a neighbour, who dialed the emergency '100' number.
The court, after perusal of evidence on record, held that the prosecution has proven the guilt of the accused beyond all reasonable doubts for murder and disappearance of evidence offences.
Additional public prosecutor Ramesh Siroya submitted that the accused committed the murder in a cold blooded manner, and prayed for capital punishment to him.
The court, however, ruled that the act of the accused "certainly does not fall within the term of rarest rare case" and hence, he cannot be sentenced to death.
The court also remarked that it cannot take a lenient view "merely because the accused is of young age" and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
