Chandigarh, January 22
A Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has refused to award death sentence to Bahadurgarh “serial killer” Satish. The convict will, however, remain behind bars for another decade with the high court directing against his release from the custody before completing 20 years of actual sentence.

Accused of allegedly killing eight victims after attempting to rape them, Satish had “confessed his guilt” before a magistrate. Apart from confession, the report of polygraph test was made a part of the evidence.

He was awarded life imprisonment in eight cases. Out of the total, he preferred appeal in four cases. In the remaining matters, Satish did not file appeals. The State of Haryana, on the other hand, filed appeals in all the cases seeking the enhancement of sentence. The police was on the serial killer’s lookout for four years. Two suspects were arrested, but the killings had continued even while they were in prison.

Disposing of the state’s appeal for enhancing the sentence, the Bench, comprising Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice S.D. Anand, ruled: “In the present case, the accused is already in custody for 10 years. The trial court thought it fits not to impose death sentence”.

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Goel further ruled: “The offence committed is very heinous and though it may be one of the rarest cases, after weighing all the circumstances, taking a global view, we are of the view that extreme penalty of death sentence is not called for. However, while affirming life imprisonment, we direct that the accused will not be released from custody before completion of 20 years of actual sentence”.

In the detailed order, Justice Anand said, “These cases, apart from being revelatory of sinful level to which an obsessive maniac can go to endeavour satiation of lust, are also a reminder that the relevant machinery must be so well oiled that such like desperadoes are not allowed to be on the prowl for a long duration because people with such frame of mind are a menace to the campuses of all segments of society and also the punitive justice”.

Satish was arrested in connection with a first information report registered on September 7, 1998. Subsequently, more cases allegedly involving him came to light. In one of the cases, a six-year old girl’s body was found on October 15, 1995 - a day she was reportedly picked up from outside her house in Bahadurgarh. A case in the matter was registered on the basis of the victim’s mother’s statement.

On December 19, 1998, an application for confessional statement was moved by the accused through a doctor of Rohtak PGIMER, where he was admitted. After it was forwarded to the area magistrate, Satish was produced in the Court on December 21, 1998. The next day he reportedly admitted his involvement in 14 cases of similar nature.