Imphal: A forty year old man from Manipur has been sentenced with death penalty for raping and murdering his pregnant girlfriend in 2010. The convicted Irom Chaoren Singh has also been ordered by Court to pay a fine of Rs. 50,000 to the victim's mother. A district court in Manipur announced the verdict ten years after the crime.
According to reports, Singh has been convicted under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 316 (causing the death of an unborn child) of IPC for the "heinous offence". The Court, headed by Special judge of Thoubal, Justice A Noutuneshwari Dev described the crimes committed by Singh as "rarest of rare" and as "inhumane, barbaric and merciless".
The order stating Singh's death penalty read, "Such cruelty and inhuman act deserve to be wiped out and there is no mitigating factor to deter in other alternative punishment. Irom Chaoren Singh is sentenced to death with a fine of Rs 50,000 only and the convict shall be hanged to death."
The convict Irom Chaoren Singh is a resident of the Thoubal district in Manipur. Reports have it that on June 18 2010, Singh strangled his 23 year old girlfriend with his T-shirt until she lost consciousness. He then raped her, poured poison into her mouth and dumped her body in Imphal river at Chongtham Kona Meitei Leikai. Police stated that he did not want to marry the woman or bear her child.
Official sources revealed that the police filed two charge sheets on January 13, 2017 and December 4, 2020, against Singh. As many as 20 prosecution witnesses were said to be involved during the trial.
Along with death sentence and fine of Rs. 50,000, the Court also recommended a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to be given by the convict to the victim's brother within 60 days from the judgement under "NALSA's Compensation Scheme" for women victims, survivors of sexual assault and other crimes, 2018.
The Court mentioned that maximum appropriate punishment to justify the heinous crime and to act as an eye-opener for the society against crimes like this was necessary in this case.
Also Watch: SBI's New Branch at Bhetapara, Guwahati