SC for harsher punishment to cops who chopped of man's private parts

A Bench of Justices Markandeya Katju and T S Thakur said policemen need to be given a harsher punishment as otherwise the entire society will crumble and there will be utter lawlessness.

"You are policemen and supposed to be the protector of the people. So, you have to be given harsher punishment for your crime as otherwise the entire society will crumble and lawlessness will prevail.

"As human beings, we ought to have self control. Otherwise, what is the difference between human beings and animals?" the Bench told senior counsel K T S Tulsi and Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for the accused police personnel.

CBI said that in 1994 SHO Sohan Singh, ASI Sumer Dhan and constable Kishore Singh took the victim Jugat Ram, an employee with a businessman, to the police station and chopped off his penis after subjecting him to torture in Rajasthan's Barmer district.

The trial court awarded life imprisonment to all the three policemen under Section 326 IPC(causing grievous hurt).

However, on an appeal from the accused, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted Sumer Dhan and Sohan Singh on the ground that there was no evidence against them, while reducing the sentence of Kishore Singh to four years.

Aggrieved by the High Court order, CBI has appealed in the apex court. The police personnel it was alleged, committed the gruesome act at the instance of the employer Bhairav Singh, a relative of Kishore Singh, as the victim had developed illicit relationship with the latter's wife and daughter.