"Evil": Bombay High Court upholds death penalty of man for murder of his son, sister and her family

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on March 27 upheld the death sentence of a 45-year-old man who killed his own son, sister, brother-in-law, niece and sister's mother-in-law [State of Maharashtra vs Vivek Gulabrao Palatkar]..A division bench of Justices Vinay Joshi and MW Chandwani said that the convict in total disregard to humanity, gender and relations, murdered his own kin. "He has not even spared his minor son or minor niece. His behaviour was quite cruel, rude and in arrogant manner he stated to the trial judge to impose death penalty. Post conviction, while in jail, he made a murderous attack on jail inmate. These instances persuades us to hold that he is beyond improvement and there are no chances of reformation," the bench noted in its order.It further said that the convict was an "evil to the society" as he killed his own and his sister and her entire family in a pre-planned and cold blooded manner. "Though initially the accused had motive to kill brother-in-law, however, his entire family was done to death. It shows that emotion or mercy has no place in the mind of the accused. In view of violent nature of accused, we perceive danger to the lives of the two children (his own daughter and sister's son, who testified against him) from the accused. Moreover, the cruel and merciless tendency is a danger for the society and thus, he is not fit to live in a civilized society," the Court said.Hence, it said that the case fell within the rarest of the rare category warranting death sentence..The convict, Vivek Palatkar, a labourer by profession was initially convicted by a trial court for killing his own wife in 2014. He was however, acquitted by the High Court. While in jail, his two children - a daughter and a son - lived with his sister and her family.On his release from the jail, Palatkar's brother-in-law (sister's husband) asked him to repay the expenses that he incurred for litigation (to defend Palatkar in his wife's murder case) and also for looking after his children. An altercation took place between the two.Subsequently, on June 10, 2018, Palatkar visited his sister's house, and the entire family comprising his brother-in-law, sister's mother-in-law, sister's children (daughter and son) and his own children, had dinner and went to sleep. At night, Palatkar killed his brother-in-law, then his own sister, her mother-in-law, her daughter and his own son. He then fled to Ludhiana in Punjab from where he was arrested two days later.The Court noted that the prime evidence against the convict was that of his own daughter and his sister's son, both of whom were minors. It held that thought their evidence was not free from doubt yet the other circumstantial evidence brought on record by the prosecution indicated his guilt.The bench took note of the medical evidence which showed the intensity of the attack on the face and head of all the deceased with a 'crowbar' which penetrated the brain and other body parts of the deceased."Except Kamlakar (his brother-in-law) all were female, age old or minor children. At the relevant time all were in fast sleep, meaning thereby totally in defenceless position. Rather the accused choose the midnight time to avoid possible resistance from a male member i.e. Kamlakar. Though the father and brother are supposed to be a protector, but, for Krishna (his son) and Archana (his sister), the accused proved to be a life taking devil," the bench observed.It said that it was disturbed by the fact that the convict completely disregarded the relationship, emotions and family bond and committed the murder of his own sister, her family and particularly of his own son."The act of the accused was totally in disregard to the favours done by Kamlakar, Archana and their family. Archana and Kamlakar gave shelter to the minor children of accused namely Mitali and Krishna. In total disregard to the said obligation, the accused mercilessly killed the entire family members who had trust on him. The act of killing own kins and kith shows unkind, cruel and heartless nature," the bench held.It further stated that the offence committed by the accused was neither under duress nor on provocation and yet innocent lives were snuffed out by him by violent indiscriminate assault."It was a cold-blooded, pre-planned murder. The act was extremely barbaric, cruel and brutal. The accused has killed his own sister, her family and more particularly his own child barely aged 4 years. The act was heartless, in total disregard to the human relationship. It has not only shocked the judicial conscious, but, the conscious of the society," the Court underscored.It was matter of indignation that women and innocent children were silenced in a brutal manner while they were sleeping, the bench lamented."The act of the accused has put a serious dent on family ties and relationship. Innocent children were made to meet the maker untimely despite their right to see the beautiful world. Two surviving children were made shelter-less despite no fault on their part," the judgment said.In view of the facts of the case, the Court held that the case fell squarely within the exceptional category and the past conduct of the accused also indicated that he was beyond reformation and rehabilitation."The accused would be a menace or threat to the society. In our considered view, the case undoubtedly falls in the ‘Rarest of Rare’ category warranting capital punishment. We have thoughtfully considered the case from every possible angle, and firmly of the opinion that any other kind of punishment than death penalty would be totally disproportionate and would amount to injustice," the Court opined.With these observations, it upheld the death sentence imposed on the convict..Advocates DV Chauhan and N Jadhav were appointed by the Court to appear for the convict.Additional Public Prosecutor SS Doifode along with Assistant Public Prosecutor A Badar represented the State. Advocate Mohd. Ateeque appeared for the complainant..[Read Judgment]