Tamil Nadu: It's death penalty for rapist-murderer of a 7-year-old girl
Chengalpattu: Techie Dhasvanth, 23, was on Monday sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl at Mugalivakkam last February. The Mahila Court judge P. Velmurugan, pronouncing the verdict in the distressing case that drew widespread public outrage, also sentenced the youth, an engineering graduate, to 46 years of rigorous imprisonment on various counts after holding that the prosecution has proved the guilt beyond doubt.
Dhasvanth also allegedly killed his mother for money while being out on bail after being held for the girl’s rape-murder. The prosecution case was that the techie had lured the girl, who stayed in the same residential complex where he lived with parents at Mugalivakkam, telling her she could play with his dog. After raping and killing her on February 6 (2017), he burnt her body to hide identity. The police arrested him but he got bail in September. While on bail, he killed his mother on December 2 and fled to Mumbai with her jewellery. He was arrested there on December 6 but escaped from police custody the following day. He was nabbed in a joint operation with the Maharashtra police on December 8 and locked up in Puzhal jail to stand trial here.
In his 135-page judgment, Judge Velmurugan held Dhasvanth guilty of all the prosecution’s charges made under the Indian Penal Code and those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act). He referred to the Delhi’s Nirbhaya case—in which a para-medic student was raped in December 2012 by a gang of six persons—and said that the instant case merited death sentence. “There is no reason to award minimum punishment. If we don’t give maximum punishment, people will lose faith in the judiciary. There is every reason to award only maximum punishment in this case,” the judge said. n P3
Dhasvanth showed no emotions while the judge read out his verdict but as the latter was leaving the court hall, the techie called out to him, “sir, sir…”. Judge Velmurugan chose to ignore the call and walked away. While Dhasvanth’s lawyer said he would appeal against the conviction, the father of the girl-victim Babu, broke down after the judgment and said, “Justice has been delivered”. After composing himself, he hesitantly accepted a sweet from a packet offered by a kind police inspector who sought to express sympathy with the grieving parent. Babu’s counsel V. Kannadasan said while there was no eyewitness to the heinous crime, the prosecution could nail the techie based on circumstantial evidence and scientific evidence such as DNA and superimposition tests. In all, the court examined 30 witnesses, 45 documents and 19 pieces of evidence.
