The Calcutta High Court recently commuted the death sentence of a man accused of murdering a girl in a hotel room [State of West Bengal v Samar Patra]. .A Division Bench of Justices Md Shabbar Rashidi and Debangsu Basak said that while the convict Samar Patra’s role in the murder of Durga Rani Majhi Barui has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, he can still reform. The Court reiterated that life imprisonment is the rule and the death sentence is the exception.“In the light of discussions hereinbefore, we are of the opinion that in the facts and circumstances of the present case, imprisonment for life would be sufficient punishment instead of death penalty. We are not minded to confirm the death sentence awarded by the learned Trial Court. We accordingly commute the death sentence, imposed upon the appellant, into one of life imprisonment,” the Bench said. .The High Court was dealing with a death reference to confirm the setence awarded by the trial court. Patra had been convicted by the trial court for Barui’s murder in a hotel room. According to the police, Patra and Barui stayed in a hotel room in April 2018 in Bakkhali village in the South 24 Parganas district, and the next day, the woman’s body was recovered from the room while Patra had fled. Patra contended that the woman committed suicide by hanging while he was asleep in the same room and that he fled out of scare of being implicated..However, the trial court and the High Court rejected the argument. “As a man of ordinary prudence, it was expected that the appellant should have called upon the officials of the hotel and reported the matter to police. Instead, the appellant fled away and that too, not by the door but by removing the window glasses, leaving the door of the room locked from inside. The subsequent conduct of the victim tells upon the authenticity of the case made out by the appellant and the same cannot be believed at all. Such circumstances, convincingly establishes the sole hypothesis of the guilt of the appellant to the exclusion of all others,” the Court observed. Therefore, the Bench upheld Patra’s conviction but changed the death sentence to life imprisonment..Advocates Soumik Ganguli and Supriyo Shasmal appeared for Samar Patra. State was represented through Public Prosecutor (PP) Debasish Roy, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) Rudradipta Nandy and Santanu Talukdar..[Read Judgment]
