Overview
- The two-judge bench commuted the father’s death sentence to imprisonment for the rest of his natural life with no release, remission or commutation.
- The judges found the trial court let emotion drive the penalty phase and denied a meaningful hearing on mitigating factors and proper legal assistance.
- The court noted the man lives cut off from his family and village, describing this continued isolation as a heavy burden that weighs against execution.
- The case moved forward after hospital staff filed a mandatory report under the child-protection law, which led to a medical exam, termination of the pregnancy, and DNA testing that identified the father.
- The court kept the conviction in place on the girl’s clear testimony corroborated by medical reports and foetal DNA, and it applied India’s cautious ‘rarest of rare’ standard before rejecting capital punishment.