* Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit were accused of kidnapping 13 children and killing nine of them
* They were eventually convicted for killing five children and sentenced to death in Kolhapur in Maharashtra in 2001
* The sisters would snatch bags in crowded streets and, if caught, would start beating up the children mercilessly to create a distraction and escape
* The state spent almost eight years sitting on their mercy petition after the death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006
* This allowed the sisters to appeal for a lesser sentence, ironical as it may sound, on grounds of cruelty
Is waiting for years for the execution of a death sentence as bad, or worse, than death itself? Does such a delay allow a death-row convict to seek a lower sentence? What if the offence committed falls in the “rarest of rare” category?
All these questions were at the centre of a Bombay high court order on Tuesday, January 18, commuting the death sentence awarded to half-sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit to life in jail because of an inordinate delay in deciding their mercy petition.
* They were eventually convicted for killing five children and sentenced to death in Kolhapur in Maharashtra in 2001
* The sisters would snatch bags in crowded streets and, if caught, would start beating up the children mercilessly to create a distraction and escape
* The state spent almost eight years sitting on their mercy petition after the death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2006
* This allowed the sisters to appeal for a lesser sentence, ironical as it may sound, on grounds of cruelty
Is waiting for years for the execution of a death sentence as bad, or worse, than death itself? Does such a delay allow a death-row convict to seek a lower sentence? What if the offence committed falls in the “rarest of rare” category?
All these questions were at the centre of a Bombay high court order on Tuesday, January 18, commuting the death sentence awarded to half-sisters Renuka Shinde and Seema Gavit to life in jail because of an inordinate delay in deciding their mercy petition.