Double Murder: HC Commutes Death Penalty of Convict to Life Imprisonment

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday upheld the conviction of a man for killing a teenage girl and a two-year-old child here in 2017 by setting them on fire, but commuted the death penalty imposed on him to life in jail.

The case does not fall under the rarest of rare category, a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Shyam Chandak said.

The conviction of the accused, Deepak Jhat, is upheld but the death penalty imposed on him is commuted to life in jail, it said.

"We have held that the case does not fall under the category of rarest of rare. The penalty of death is not the only penalty that can be imposed in this case," the bench said.

A sessions court in 2023 convicted and imposed death penalty on Jath, holding the crime committed by him falls under the rarest of rare category.

The prosecution case is that in April 2017, Jath poured some liquid on two girls, aged 2 and 17, and set them on fire in Bandra area.

They both died due to the burn injuries.

The case is that Jath had eve-teased the teenage girl and was irked when he was admonished for it.

Jath in his defense also claimed he was irked with the two girls as they had called him "hijda and chakka" (transgender person).