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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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India | Gujarat man sentenced to death for rape murder of 8-year-old girl

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Gir Somnath (Gujarat), Jul 30 (PTI) A special POCSO court has sentenced to death a 32-year-old man for raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district in 2022.

In an order passed on Monday, special judge S I Bhorania at Kodinar town ordered that the accused, Somabhai Solanki, be "hanged by the neck till he is dead," and also directed him to pay Rs 25,000 as fine.

The court counted this as the "rarest of the rare case" after observing the accused committed the crime in a very cruel and heartless manner, leaving it with no other option but to sentence him to death.

The gruesome crime occurred in a village under Kodinar taluka of Gir Somnath district in June 2022.

The district police had formed a special investigation team which arrested Solanki 25 days after the horrific incident, said public prosecutor Ketansinh Vala.

The accused was charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) for rape, murder of the minor girl and disposing of her body at an isolated place.

"A total of 55 documentary evidences were presented before the court and the prosecution examined the family members of the victim, her neighbours, police as well as forensic officials during the trial," Vala told media persons.

Scientific and circumstantial evidence collected by investigators helped the prosecution in securing conviction and the harshest punishment for the accused, he said.

The court also directed that the minor girl's family be paid Rs 17 lakh under the Gujarat Victim Compensation Scheme, 2019.

Source: PTI, Staff, July 30, 2024

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde



Location: Gir Somnath, Gujarat, India
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