A division bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice Poonam A Bamba held, “…as per the MLC, [medico-legal case] of the appellant number of injuries were found on his body indicating struggle at the time of rape and murder of the deceased. Thus these two clothes i.e. the shawl recovered from the spot and the underwear of the deceased found inserted in her vagina, which both had the semen of the appellant as per DNA analysis, clinch the case of the prosecution that the appellant committed the rape of the deceased, brutally inserted sticks in her vagina and anal cavities, tied her and strangulated her to death.”

The court rejected the plea of the accused observing that it “finds no error” in the trial court order.

The judgment was passed in a plea by a man challenging his conviction and life imprisonment awarded by a trial court in May 2018 after holding him guilty for the rape and murder of a woman, who was in her early thirties.

Considering the nature of the offence, the bench also issued notice to the man seeking his response as to why his sentence should not be modified to a fixed term as per a 2016 judgment of the Supreme Court in Union of India vs V Sriharan.

“Superintendent Tihar Jail is directed to produce the appellant in court on 19th May 2023,” the high court directed.

During the investigation, it was revealed that there were frequent calls between the victim and the accused. The man was tracked down and arrested on the basis of the call details.