Court Says Trauma Suffered By Victim “Far Outweighs Any Hypothetical Chance Of Duo’s Rehabilitation”
Srinagar, Aug 22: A court here on Tuesday sentenced two convicts to life imprisonment in a “horrendous” acid attack on a law student at Nowshera Srinagar in 2014, observing that that the duo do not deserve leniency and that “horrible act far outweighs any hypothetical chance” of their “rehabilitation”.
The court, Principal Sessions Judge, Srinagar Jawad Ahmed, had on Thursday last convicted the duo and had started the 312-page verdict with German-American novelist Oliver Markus Malloy quote: “Envy is the desire to have what someone else has.Jealousy is the fear of losing what you have.The more insecure you are about yourself or your relationship, the more jealous you are, because you are afraid to lose your significant other to someone else.”
“After careful consideration of the submissions made by both the sides and having regard to the nature of the attack, the permanent disfiguration caused to the victim by the use of corrosive substance by the convicts in furtherance of criminal conspiracy and the impact of the disfiguration on the future life of the victim both physical and emotional, I find that the convicts do not deserve leniency and no other punishment except the maximum punishment of life imprisonment prescribed under law for their act can do the real and complete justice to the victim,” Principal Sessions Judge, Srinagar Jawad Ahmed, said while awarding life sentence to Irshad Amin Wani of Wazirbagh, Srinagar and Mohammed Umer Noor of Bemina who were convicted on Thursday last for the “horrific” acid attack on the 20-year-old law student on 11 December 2014.
“The convicts are sentenced to suffer imprisonment for life and fine of Rs 5 lakhs each for commission of offence punishable under Section 326-A RPC read with Section 120-B RPC”.
The execution of the sentence shall be subject to the confirmation by the J&K and Ladakh High Court in terms of Section 376 CrPC Svt, 1989, the court said.
The fine, when recovered, shall be paid to the victim in terms of proviso 1 and 2 of Section 326-A RPC, the court said.
“In default of payment of fine, the convicts shall undergo rigorous imprisonment for three years.
The court also sentenced the duo to 10 years of imprisonment and fine of Rs25,000 each for the offence punishable under Section 120-B RPC (criminal conspiracy). In default of payment of fine, the court said, they shall undergo further imprisonment for one year.
The convicts were also sentenced to imprisonment for three years for offence punishable under Section 201 RPC (destroying evidence) with fine of Rs 10,000 each and in default of such fine they shall undergo further imprisonment for six months. “The sentence awarded to the convicts for different offences shall run concurrently.”
Meanwhile, the court also recommended the case of the victim to the Member Secretary, J&K Legal Service Authority for awarding the maximum compensation to the victim in terms of the J&K Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019.
“In view of the huge amount the victim has incurred on her treatment and the amount which is required for her further treatment, I deem it appropriate to recommend the case of the victim to the Member Secretary, J&K Legal Service Authority to award the maximum compensation to the victim in terms of the J&K Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019, of course subject to the adjustment of the interim compensation already paid to her under the scheme,” the court said. The court had reserved the verdict on Saturday last after hearing arguments of Special Public Prosecutor AA Teeli who demanded maximum punishment of life imprisonment for the convicted while counsel representing the duo sought a lesser punishment of ten years, considering mitigating factors.
