New Delhi, August 31
Two sisters from Pune, who had been convicted by lower courts of brutal murder of 13 minor children over a period of five years — after using them in an organised racket of petty offences — were shown no mercy by the Supreme Court today when it upheld the death sentence awarded to them by the lower courts.
The convicted women — Renuka Bai and Seema — who perpetuated the crime in Pune, Kolhapur and the surrounding areas of the two cities with their mother Anjanabai between 1991 and 1996 — were awarded capital punishment by a Sessions Court in Kolhapur on June 28, 2001, which was confirmed by the Bombay High Court in September, 2004.
They used to kidnap small children from localities of downtrodden people in the areas of their operation, and force them to commit thefts, lift goods and snatch chains. But when the children grew older enough to understand things, they were brutally murdered by banging their heads against the wall, railway tracks, beating with iron rods, or strangulation.
Their mother had died in 1997 during the trial proceedings.
The sisters used various names like Rinku, Ratana, Devki and Devli to escape identification before being caught by the Crime Investigation Department of the Maharashtra Police on November 19, 1996.
Upholding the verdict of the severest punishment to the middle-aged women, a Bench of Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice G.P. Mathur said: “We have carefully considered the whole aspects of the case and are alive to the new trends in the sentencing system of criminology. We do not think that these appellants (sisters) are likely to be reformed.”
The apex court lifted the stay order on their execution, granted at the time of the admission of their appeal and directed the authorities to take “such steps as are necessary to carry out the execution of capital punishment imposed on them”.
It was of the view that they had been a “menace to society”. People in the localities of their operation were horrified as they could not even send their children to schools. The two committed the crime under a well-executed plan, showing no mercy to small kids and caused agony to their parents.
Apart from considering entire evidence brought on record, the apex court like the High Court and the Sessions Judge also relied upon the statement of Kiran Shinde, the husband of elder sister Renuka Bai.
He had turned approver in the case and was granted pardon by the trial court. This was Renuka’s second marriage after she left her first husband Suresh from whom she had a son.
“Going by the details of the case, we find no mitigating circumstances in favour of the appellants (Renuka and Seema), except for the fact that they are women. Further, the nature of the crime and the systematic way in which each child was kidnapped and killed amply demonstrates the depravity of their mind,” the court said, pointing out that they had been indulging in the organised crime for a long period.
But the women can still appeal to the President for clemency.
