Chhawla gang-rape-murder: Govt moves SC seeking review of verdict acquitting 3 convicts

New Delhi: The Delhi government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its November 7 verdict acquitting three death row convicts of gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi's Chhawla area in 2012, saying the offence was "diabolic in nature exhibiting grave depravity and bestiality" and fell under the "rarest of rare" category.

Highlighting that scientific evidence "withstood legal scrutiny and revolutionised crime investigations", the review plea said the DNA sample tests showed "positive results" linking the accused with the crime.

The top court had on November 7 acquitted the three men while setting aside the Delhi High Court's August 26, 2014 order upholding the death sentence awarded by the trial court. Several review pleas including the one filed by the father of the deceased victim against the apex court verdict have been filed recently.

The Delhi government's review plea, settled by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, referred to "errors apparent on face of the records" in the apex court judgement.

"Offences like these do not just affect the victim and her family but have a much larger and grave impact on the society as well, which is bound to adversely influence the nation's fight of zero tolerance of sexual offences against the women.

"Acts of gruesome nature such as rape not only violate the victim's personal integrity but also leave an indelible mark in the society at large. This is the reason why families do not feel confident enough to send their daughters out to contribute to the nation," the plea said.

Seeking the verdict to be set aside, it said the trial court and the high court had awarded the death penalty to the convicts after taking note of the the "diabolic" manner, exhibiting grave depravity and bestiality, in which the crime was committed. "In the instant case the crime and the manner in which the said crime was committed reflects the nature of sexual predators and sexual psychopaths who with complete impunity and brazenness chose to kidnap the young 18-year-old girl from a public road while she was on her way back from office along with her friends," it said.

The accused "raped and brutalised the prosecutrix in a moving car for several hours and finally continued to satisfy their depravity in a field close to Jhajjar, Haryana where they not only violated and brutalised her body by gang raping her and inflicting grave injuries upon her, but continued their bestiality even upon the lifeless body of the victim resulting in grave post mortem injuries especially on the sexual organs of the deceased," it alleged.