Years In Jail Not Enough Up Rejects Convicts Early Release Pleas In Child Rape Murder Cases

Sending a strong message on crimes against children, the Uttar Pradesh government has rejected the premature release pleas of two life convicts in separate cases involving the rape, murder and killing of minor girls, holding that the passage of time cannot dilute the savagery of such offences, senior officials of the prison administration and reform services department said here on Thursday.

Orders issued on June 24 denied remission to Sappu alias Sitaram, lodged in Bareilly district jail, and Pawan Kumar, lodged in Fatehgarh Central Jail. The government held that the gravity and brutality of the offences outweighed considerations for early release.

Sappu was convicted in Shahjahanpur for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1995. Sentenced to death in 2000, his punishment was commuted to life imprisonment by the high court in 2002. He was convicted under IPC Sections 302, 376 and 201. A trial court had sentenced him to death on August 31, 2000, which the high court later commuted to life imprisonment on July 31, 2002. When his case came up for premature release, the state refused to grant him relief.

Pawan Kumar was sentenced to life imprisonment in an Etawah case involving a 16-year-old girl. The government order records that when the teenager resisted his actions, kerosene was poured on her and she was set ablaze on April 2, 2008. She later died during treatment. He was convicted under IPC sections 452, 354 and 302.

The government said the offences were heinous and socially disturbing, adding that crimes involving minor girls, sexual violence and murder could not be viewed as routine remission cases. The orders stated that releasing such convicts prematurely would send a wrong message to society and undermine the seriousness of the crimes.

Rohit K Singh is a Principal Correspondent. He writes on crime, police and social issues