Shimla, Sep 23 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of two convicted by a sessions court to life term for kidnapping and killing four-year-old Yug Gupta after enticing him with a chocolate in 2014, while acquitting the third of all charges.

The state capital had witnessed demonstrations and candlelight marches after the crime.

Even one of the convicts participated in the demonstrations, seeking justice for the child.

A special Division Bench of Justices Vivek Singh Thakur and Rakesh Kainthala ruled that two convicts, Chander Sharma, 26, and Vikrant Bakshi, 22, would remain in jail till their last breath.

However, it accepted the appeal of Tejinder Pal Singh, 29, and acquitted him of all charges.

The case was referred to the High Court by the Shimla sessions judge for confirmation of capital punishment, while the convicts filed an appeal challenging their conviction.

“The appeal filed by accused Tejinder Pal Singh is allowed and he is acquitted of the charged offences, whereas the appeals filed by Chander Sharma and Vikrant Bakshi are partly allowed and they are acquitted of the commission of offences punishable under Sections 347 and 364-A of the IPC, and the sentence of death imposed upon them by the trial court is ordered to be converted to life imprisonment, which will mean the natural life until their last breath,” observed the Bench.

On converting the death sentence into life imprisonment, the Bench said, “We have analysed the circumstances of the case and the reports submitted by the state regarding the behaviour of the accused in custody. The material on record does not show that the accused cannot be reformed; hence, we are unable to confirm the death penalty imposed by the trial court despite our indignation towards the crime, and the same is reduced to life imprisonment, which will mean the natural life of the convicts until their last breath.”

The boy’s skeletal remains were recovered from a municipal water supply tank in August 2016, two years after he was reported missing.

The child had been tortured, starved and forced to consume liquor before he was thrown into the tank after tying the body.

The police had charged three youths, who were the victim’s neighbours, with murder. They had been in police custody since their arrest on August 22, 2016.

A charge sheet filed by the Himachal Pradesh police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) on October 25, 2017, said the child had been missing from his residence since June 14, 2014.

The accused kept on demanding the ransom even after killing the child, said the CID.

On June 27, 2016, the family received a ransom letter demanding Rs 3.6 crore. This was followed by three more ransom letters.

An angry crowd had thrashed the two accused, Chander Sharma and Tajinder Singh, in August 2017, within the district court complex when they were taken there for a court hearing.

Regarding the contentions of the state counsel that the convict had brutally killed the boy, the High Court observed, “This submission is not based on the material on record. The evidence is silent as to what transpired after Yug was found missing. We have proceeded based on the last seen theory and other circumstances because there is no evidence regarding the events, which had happened between the day when Yug was found missing and his bones were found in the tank at Keleston; therefore, it is very difficult for us to proceed on the assumption that the convict had treated Yug with brutality, justifying the imposition of the extreme penalty of death.”

The Shimla District and Sessions Judge had pronounced the verdict in a nearly 800-page judgment and had declared them killers in 2018.

–IANS

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