Terming it as one of the “rarest of rare” cases, a sessions court in
Manipur’s Senapati district on Tuesday awarded death penalty to a man
convicted of murder. This is the second death sentence awarded in the
state since Independence and a first to a person charged with murder.
Sessions Judge A Noutuneshwari convicted Yumkhaibam Rohit alias
Rajesh, 29, for murdering his girlfriend. The court also directed
Manipur State Legal Services Authority to give the victim’s father Rs 10
lakh as compensation within 60 days.
“In my considered view, maximum punishment should be awarded and it
should be an eye opener for the society at large in order to prevent
such brutal and heinous crime in our society,” the judge said.
The three other convicts in the case are Y Md Farish Shah, Rehena and
Farjina. Rohit was convicted under Section 302 and 201 of IPC, while
Shah was awarded life imprisonment and Rehana and Farjina were given
three years and six months simple imprisonment respectively.
“As the crime committed by the convicts are so inhumane, barbaric and
merciless and their intention and motive were beyond the thoughts of a
rational human being, such cruelty deserves to be wiped out and there is
no mitigating factor to deter in other alternative punishment,” the
judge said.
The incident took place on August 14, 2018, at Kshertrigao
Thambalkhong Makha Leikai, in Imphal East district at Farish’s
residence. As per police investigation, the girl befriended Rohit on Facebook in February 2018 following which they started meeting frequently and entered into a physical relationship.
However, on August 14, the couple had an argument after the girl
pressured Rohit to elope. The police report mentions that Rohit then hit
the girl with a wooden stump and strangulated her with a rope while
Farish muffled the victim’s mouth. Rohit also smashed the girl’s head
and face with a stone several times before fleeing with her ornaments.
The police completed its investigation within a month and submitted
the charge sheet against the convicts on January 15. The trial was
completed in a record 20 days after the court examined and recorded the
statement of 28 prosecution witnesses.
Noutuneshwari, who is also a special judge of POCSO (Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences) in Senapati, on July 31, 2018, had
awarded death sentence to a 21-year-old who was convicted for rape and
murder of a four-year-old girl in 2015.
