Punjab & Haryana HC commutes death penalty of man convicted under POCSO Act for raping minor daughter, stating the case doesn’t qualify as the “rarest of rare cases.”
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HARYANA: A landmark judgment delivered on July 11, 2025, the Division Bench of the Punjab & Haryana High Court, comprising Justice Gurvinder Singh Gill and Justice Jasjit Singh Bedi, reduced the death penalty of a father convicted for repeatedly raping and impregnating his 17‑year‑old daughter.
The Bench upheld his conviction but held that the case did not meet the “rarest of rare” threshold required for capital punishment, commuting the sentence to rigorous imprisonment of 30 years without parole.
The Court ruled,
“It goes without saying that the accused having subjected his minor daughter to repeated penetrative sexual assault and having impregnated her has committed one of the most heinous crimes of the gravest form and would hardly call for any kind of leniency in the matter of sentence. However, at the same time we find that the case is not such to be termed as “rarest of rare cases” so as to justify the death sentence.”
Background
In 2020, the teenager, along with her grandparents, reported to the police that her father began sexually abusing her following her mother’s death. The abuse spanned several years, ultimately resulting in her pregnancy. The accused was arrested on October 3, 2020, and allegedly confessed to the crime.
In 2023, the Special Court in Palwal, Haryana, convicted him under Section 6 of the POCSO Act and Section 506(2) IPC, sentencing him to death, a verdict which required confirmation by the High Court.
High Court’s Observation
The victim, identified as PW‑10, testified under oath that her father had committed numerous acts of forcible penetrative sexual assault over approximately four years, which was corroborated by medical reports confirming her pregnancy.
The High Court relied heavily on compelling forensic evidence to affirm the accused’s guilt. A “perfect DNA match” was established between the accused and the child born to the minor victim, clearly indicating biological paternity. The Court said,
“While it could be said that the DNA profile of the accused would to some extent match with that of the baby being in any case her grand-father, but the instant case is not a case where only a small percentage was found to be matching but it is a case of perfect match as has been stated by PW-24 Dr. Anshuman Rai, Senior Scientific Assistant (B) DNA Division, Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban.”
Additionally, semen stains found on the victim’s salwar were confirmed to match the DNA profile of the accused. These scientific findings decisively disproved the defence’s claim that the victim’s child was fathered by a scrap dealer with whom she was allegedly in a relationship. The argument that any DNA similarity could be attributed to the accused being the child’s grandfather was also rendered baseless in light of the complete DNA match. The Court said,
“The fact that the victim herself admitted her relationship with the scrap dealer xxx as has also been admitted by the grand-father of the victim cannot be interpreted to mean that in fact the father of the child delivered by the victim was xxx and not the accused. The fact that the victim herself admitted that she knew xxx would rather show that she is a truthful witness and has not tried to conceal any fact.”
The Court added,
“The crisp and specific allegations having been levelled by the victim regarding having been subjected to penetrative sexual assault by the accused which is also borne out from the medical evidence inasmuch as the victim was found to be pregnant would attract provisions of Section 29 of POCSO Act and a presumption against the accused could even safely be drawn.”
In its judgment dated July 11, the High Court noted that the prosecution had presented adequate medical evidence to establish the minor victim’s pregnancy. It also observed that the victim had clearly stated that she was subjected to sexual abuse by her father over approximately four years. The Court said
“When the victim stepped into the witness box during the course of trial as PW-10, she again reiterated the version while categorically stating that she had repeatedly been subjected to forcible penetrative intercourse by the accused for about 4 years and had been impregnated.”
While the record reflects “one of the most heinous crimes,” the High Court emphasized that the ‘rarest of rare’ benchmark, essential for awarding the death penalty, was not met in this case.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court upheld the conviction of the accused under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault, and Section 506(2) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), relating to criminal intimidation involving threats to life.
While affirming the gravity of the offence, the Court revised the sentence, commuting the death penalty to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment. Importantly, it directed that the convict shall not be entitled to premature release or remission before completing the full term of 30 years.
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