Death Penalty News

Court rejects death penalty, citing reflection over life imprisonment for parricide and murder A man in his 30s who killed three family members, including his parents and older brother, in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the second trial. The Criminal Division 2 of the Incheon Branch of the Seoul High Court (Judge Lee Jeong-min) sentenced A, who faces charges of parricide and murder, to life imprisonment on the 8th, upholding the lower court’s ruling. A is accused of stabbing three people to death with a weapon at a single-family house in Haseong-myeon, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi Province, on July 10 of last year. The victims were his parents, in their 60s to 70s, and his older brother, in his 30s.

In a new twist to sentencing policy, the Supreme Court on Friday held that no leniency can be shown by courts in awarding death sentence only on the ground that the accused in a brutal killing is a woman. The sentencing policy must be proportionate to the crime committed and the sentence must be the same for man and woman, held a 3-judge bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu and Justices S.A. Bobde and Arun Mishra, while confirming a death sentence awarded to a woman and her paramour for killing 7 members of a family (the case was briefly reported on April 30 when the bench reserved orders). Writing the judgement, the CJI said, "The Indian legal system today does not differentiate between a son and a daughter - they have equal rights and duties. Indian culture has been witness to for centuries, that daughters dutifully bear the burden of being the care-givers for her parents, even more than a son. Our experience has reflected that an adult daughter places greater emphasis o...