The Supreme Court on Tuesday acquitted Chandrabhan Sanap, who had been sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old techie from Mumbai. Sanap had been convicted and sentenced to death by a special women’s court in 2015 for the horrific crime.
Sanap had challenged his death penalty by appealing to the Bombay High Court, but his appeal was rejected. Following the High Court’s decision, he moved to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction citing gaps in the prosecution’s case.
Chandrabhan Sanap, was pronounced guilty by a special court in 2015 and awarded the death sentence for the rape and murder of the 23-year-old software professional who was employed with a leading IT firm in Mumbai. A bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre said while the 2012 (Delhi) gang rape case — where the victim was a paramedical student — brought in a criminal amendment to make rape laws stricter, incidents such as the Shakti Mills rape case in Mumbai and countless other cases of sexual assault continued to take place across the nation.
What’s the case?
As per the prosecution, on January 5, 2014, the victim reached the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus railway station in suburban Mumbai from her native place in Andhra Pradesh after visiting her parents during a small break from work. Around 5 am, she met Sanap outside the station and he offered to drop her to YWCA hostel in suburban Andheri, where she stayed, on his motorbike in return for Rs 300.
She agreed to his offer. However, on the way, Sanap took her to a secluded spot near Kanjurmarg, raped and killed her, said the prosecution. He partially burnt her dead body and dumped it in the bushes off the Eastern Express Highway, where it was found by the victim’s family on January 14 that year.
(With inputs from agencies)
