In last 40 years, about 67 cases were dealt with by the Supreme Court relating to rape and murder in which victims were 16 years or below and death sentence stands confirmed in 12 cases.
The apex court said the death sentence was affirmed in 15 cases but in the review petitions the punishment of three convicts were commuted to life term.
The top court said as on date, death sentence stands confirmed in 12 out of 67 cases where the principal offences allegedly committed were of rape and murder and victims were aged about 16 years or below.
It further said that out of these 67 cases, in at least 51 cases the victims were aged below 12 years.
These facts are mentioned in a judgement of the apex court which commuted to life term the death sentence awarded to a man convicted for raping and murdering a two-and-a-half-year old girl in 2013 in Maharashtra.
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