Mumbai: Bombay HC Commutes Death Penalty To Life In Prison For Man Who Killed 2 In 2017 Bandra Arson Attack

The Bombay High court on Thursday commuted the death sentence of a man to life in prison for killing a woman and her tenant’s two-year-old girl in 2017 as the former called him hijra or chakka. The man poured petrol on the woman, Amravati and set her on fire. Her tenant’s daughter, Angel, 2, who was sitting next to her also caught fire. 

The court upheld the conviction of Deepak Jath for murdering Amravati and her tenant’s daughter Angel, but reduced his death sentence to life imprisonment noting that the offence did not fall in the category of “rarest of rare”. 

“We do not find that this case, in any way, falls in the category of ‘rarest of rare case’ warranting death sentence to the accused. Hence, the death sentence awarded to the accused for causing the death of Amravati and Angel requires to be commuted,” a bench of  Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Shyam Chandak said.

The HC was hearing a plea filed by the State government seeking confirmation of Jath’s death sentence. A death sentence can be executed only after the high court confirms the same. 

In 2023, a sessions court convicted Jath and sentenced him to death saying that the crime committed by him falls under the rarest of rare category.

According to the prosecution, on April 14, 2017, Amravati and her daughter Rohini, who used to sell bracelets, were sitting outside their house in Bandra, when Jath came and poured petrol on them. Rohini ran inside and raised a hue and cry. Some petrol fell on Amravati’s tenant, Kanta and her daughter, Angel, who too were sitting there. 

They were rushed to a hospital, where Amravati and Angel died due to burn injuries after two weeks. Kanta suffered 60% burn injuries. 

Jath told the magistrate, who recorded his statement, that he took the step as Amravati and others used to tease him and call him hijra or chakka. He claimed, in order to prove that he wasn’t hijra or chakka, he even flashed at them. 

Jath’s advocate, Farhana Shah, sought leniency saying that he was mentally unstable. He was examined post the incident and was not only unfit during the trial, but was also unable to comprehend the trial. She relied on the medical case papers of the accused, which are part of the paper-book. He was declared unfit for trial on October 23, 2021 and that the trial proceeded from June 10, 2022, only when he was declared fit for trial. 

The court noted that Jath, himself, admitted to committing the offence and justified the same as he was being teased. Hence, the court upheld his conviction but reduced it to life in prison.