Madras High Court Commutes Death Sentence to Life Imprisonment in Minor Daughter Rape Case

The Madras High Court commuted the death penalty of a man convicted of repeatedly raping his 14-year-old daughter to life imprisonment without the possibility of remission.

The Court observed that life imprisonment until death serves as a more enduring retributive measure than the finality of the capital punishment.

Noting that the convict already lives in "stark isolation," abandoned by his family and society, which acts as a continuing form of punishment.

While the Court affirmed the conviction based on DNA evidence, it held the case did not meet the "rarest of rare" threshold as there was no evidence of collateral physical cruelty.

[State of Tamil Nadu v. Murugan]