Calcutta High Court commutes death sentences of two accused in Kamduni rape-murder case

The long-awaited decision regarding the rape and murder of a 19-year-old lady in Kamduni village was made by the Calcutta High Court on Friday. Two of the accused had their death sentences commuted, a third death row inmate was declared innocent, and three convicts had their life sentences reduced to seven years.

The woman's family and friends, whose murder had shook Bengal ten years prior, expressed shock at the verdict.

A sessions court's 2016 death convictions for Ansar Ali and Saiful Ali were changed to life sentences. Amin Ali, who was also given the death penalty, was cleared of all charges.

Bholanath Naskar, Emanul Islam, and Aminur Islam, the other three defendants, had their life sentences commuted to seven years. They can now be released after serving a 10-year sentence in prison if they pay a fine.

A team of three CID officials visited Kamduni, according to Tumpa Koyal, the victim's childhood friend, and spoke to Moushumi Koyal and the victim's family, assuring them that the state government was on their side and would file an appeal with the Supreme Court. Following the 2013 atrocity, Tumpa and Moushumi had evolved into the public face of the "Kamduni movement," which fought for the victim's justice.

Ansar and Saiful were found guilty of rape, murder, criminal conspiracy, and evidence destruction under IPC sections 376A, 376D, 302, 120B, and 201 by the bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Ajay Kumar Gupta. Although they were found not guilty of the charge of rape, Emanul, Aminur, and Naskar were found guilty of criminal conspiracy and evidence destruction.

In view of the aforementioned factors, I believe the trial Court erred in imposing the death penalty based only on the seriousness of the offense, according to the court's ruling. State has not established beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a conspiracy and previous concert in the offense. Additionally, it has not produced data that contradict the viability of reformation and rehabilitation.

The verdict continued, "On the other hand, appellants' behavior in the correctional home is satisfactory, and additional undisputed evidence before this Court gives rise to a reasonable conclusion that there is substantial potential for reformation and rehabilitation of the appellants.

"Life imprisonment for the remainder of one's natural life is an alternative punishment that is more humane and adequately allays societal worries about recidivism."

After hearing the verdict, the victim's family and friends who had traveled to the court from Kamduni, which is located approximately 20 kilometers from Calcutta, sobbed.

"We had hoped that the high court would uphold the lower court verdict," said Tumpa, who is now living in a different location with her husband's family. "We had managed to continue our fight in some way."

The first-generation learner and college student who was murdered was on her way home from school on June 7, 2013, when she was seized and dragged into an enclosure after turning onto her village road. She was killed after being raped.

Later on, on the other side of the boundary wall, her battered body was discovered.

At the sight of the girl's body, which had been ripped open from the middle to the navel, the town had exploded in rage. The entire Kamduni had gathered to denounce the teen's death, referring to her as their "daughter".

Tumpa led a group that marched to face Mamata Banerjee when she made a belated visit to the village and requested that she stop talking and pay attention to the locals instead.

The Kamduni Pratibadi Mancha, founded by Tumpa, Moushumi, and a teacher named Pradip Mukherjee, was the driving force behind the struggle for the dead girl's justice. They said that they had constantly been threatened by powerful individuals.

They claimed that the police, the CID, and the investigating agencies were attempting to shield the guilty.

The victim's family's attorney expressed his disappointment in the verdict in forceful terms on Friday.

"The state administration desired that those who committed crimes go unpunished. The CID, the state police, and the investigative authorities had all destroyed evidence, the attorney Jayanta Narayan Chattopadhyay claimed. "A brutal rape and murder have become commonplace crimes,"

"14 state advocates working for the prosecution resigned since the case was transferred to the high court — after the accused appealed," he continued. This is exceptional. Either by threats or seduction, they were driven away.

Long delays in the lawsuit were another issue, he claimed. The post-mortem itself was altered. Her body was split in half, but that wasn't mentioned. Additionally, all the brutalities were covered over, he added.

After the decision, Tumpa stated, "We now fear a retaliation. "Despite having little money and facing threats, we fought. Once a bomb was thrown at my house.

She continued, "We had hoped the state and the police would do their jobs to punish the guilty."

But we won't give up, Moushumi remarked. The Supreme Court is where we will go.

She claimed that a protest was scheduled for Saturday in Kamduni.