Esther Anuhya case: HC upholds death verdict, Sanap cries conspiracy

Chandrabhan Sanap killed Esther Anuhya. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence of Chandrabhan Sanap, 33, for the brutal rape and murder of techie Esther Anuhya. Sanap had killed Anuhya on January 5, 2014, after she returned from her parents' home in Andhra Pradesh."

Confirming the death sentence, a bench of justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre said, "We've taken note of the mitigating circumstances and also applied our mind as to whether there is any possibility of reformation of the accused. The accused is now 33 years of age and at the time of commission of offence, he was aged approximately 29 years.

No remorse
"He's capable of understanding the consequences of his act and cannot claim the benefit of being in his adulthood, but he is a mature adult. We've noticed that there is no remorse on his part. It has also been brought on record that he had a history of being involved in activities prohibited by law."

While announcing the judgment, justice Dangre added: "The case of the appellant deserves to fall in the category of 'rarest of the rare' and also amounts to devastation of social trust, shocks the social conscience and calls for an extreme penalty of capital punishment."

After listening to the high court's decision, Sanap broke into tears inside the courtroom. When asked about the court's order while entering the police van, Sanap said: "Sablog milkar jhooth ko sach aur sach ko jhooth kiya [everyone has conspired to turn the truth into a lie and a lie into the truth]."

Justice served again
Reacting to the verdict, Anuhya's father Singavarapa Surendra Prasad, a retired professor from a university in Andhra Pradesh, said, "It is good. I must say that justice has been granted again. We have pain in our hearts because of the irreparable loss. People kept asking us for updates in the case. Until now, we'd been saying the case is pending in the high court, but now we can say that justice has been served again with even the HC confirming the death sentence."

He told mid-day over the phone from Andhra Pradesh, "My wife says that this should be a lesson for people. Culprits should know that they cannot escape the law. No parents should go through such agony. We have forgotten everything except our daughter. We must thank the police for the relentless efforts in conducting the thorough enquiry and the media for following the case very passionately."

Also read: Sanap gets death in Esther Anuhya's case; victim's family welcomes decision

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