Supreme Court acquits 3 facing death in rape case

New Delhi, November 8

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Noting that conviction should not be based merely on the apprehension of indictment, the Supreme Court has acquitted three men awarded death penalty for the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Delhi’s Chhawla area in 2012.

“The prosecution has to bring home the charges levelled against them beyond reasonable doubt, which the prosecution has failed to do in the instant case,” a three-judge Bench led by CJI UU Lalit, whose last working day was on Monday.

“It may be true that if the accused involved in the heinous crime go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of agony and frustration may be caused to the society in general and to the family of the victim in particular, however the law does not permit the courts to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on suspicion alone,” said the Bench.