A sexual offender and murderer was sentenced to death by a local court on Monday here at Nagpur for sodomizing and killing a 10 year old boy in January 2008 and disposing of the body in a well. Anthony Arick Swamy Joseph, alias Anil, was also accused in two other murder cases in the past but was acquitted in both.
Principal district and sessions judge SB Shukre had convicted Joseph of murder last week. He pronounced the quantum of sentence on Monday. The death sentence is subject to the confirmation of the high court. A fine of Rs 10,000 was also imposed on Joseph.
While Joseph's free legal aid counsel Sanjay Jogewar had tried to argue that the crime does not fall in the 'rarest of rare' category, additional public prosecutor Jyoti Vajani had countered the view and demanded the death sentence, which was upheld. This is the second case in which Vajani has argued successfully for capital punishment for a sexual offender.
Apart from the death sentence, Joseph will undergo 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and have to pay and a fine of Rs 1,000 for unnatural sex. He was also sentenced three years of imprisonment for destroying evidence.
In his remarks, Shukre had stressed on the helplessness of the innocent boy, the only son of his mother, who was beaten in 'a most barbaric fashion by the man who unexpectedly betrayed his trust'. The age of Joseph, who is in his thirties, is enough to attain sufficient maturity to discern good from evil and be aware of the desired conduct in the society, said Shukre.
"Joseph showed immense depravity of mind and perversity of conduct which made the entire crime an uncommon one," said Shukre. The judge underlined the fact that Joseph had 'silenced the voice of the boy permanently by killing him' after satisfying his lust. Shukre also took into account Joseph's previous crime record and the fact that he did not suffer from any psychological disorder.
The judge maintained that showing any leniency towards Joseph does not hold any promise of improvement in his conduct. "Given a second chance, Joseph may prove dangerous to the society," he said.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Death Plus 10 Years In Prison For Pedophile And Murderer Of 10 Year Old
Original Post by - Times of India
