Supreme Court Stays Death Penalty of Man Convicted for Rape and Murder of 5-Year-Old Child

The Supreme Court stayed the death sentence of a man convicted for the 2024 rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Bhopal.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta, and NV Anjaria ordered a comprehensive psychological evaluation and a mitigation investigation report to assess the convict's mental condition and prison conduct.

The Court permitted a mitigation investigator to conduct confidential interviews with the convict. This follows a Madhya Pradesh High Court ruling that classified the case as "rarest of rare" due to the extreme brutality of the offense.

The matter is scheduled for further hearing in sixteen weeks. 

[Atul Nihale v. State of Madhya Pradesh]