Prosecution seeks death penalty for Kasab

Terming Kasab's case as the rarest of rare, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the anti-terror court, "Such a monster should be given death penalty.... He is an agent of devil himself.

"If Kasab is given lesser punishment, India will become a soft target for every self-styled terror group," Nikam said in his arguments over quantum of sentence to the terrorist, a day after Special Judge M L Tahaliyani found him guilty of mass murder and waging war against India.

"There has been a high degree of cruelty and Kasab had total disregard for life. Kasab is a killing machine and such machines are manufactured in Pakistan," he said.

Seeking death for the 22-year-old lone surviving gunman involved in the brazen attacks that left 166 people dead, Nikam said, "Kasab has lost every right to live. He was not happy after killing 72 persons and wanted to kill more."

Nikam claimed Kasab was in a "joyous" mood after seeing people dying in pain and agony after opening indiscriminate fire at the bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and elsewhere on November 26, 2008.

"There was no remorse and he said in his confession before the magistrate that he wanted to inspire future fidayeens (suicide killers). If death is not awarded, it would be a mockery of justice," Nikam said.

Nikam cited nine Supreme Court judgements to show that the case fell under the rarest of rare category in which death penalty was necessary.

The verdict came 17 months after Kasab and nine other Pakistani terrorists trained and armed by Lashkar-e-Taiba let loose death and destruction on Mumbai.

In his 1522-page verdict, the judge had also held that evidence adduced by the prosecution pointed a finger at Pakistan and established that the absconding accused, including Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafeez Sayeed and chief of operations Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi had plotted the attacks.

Barring a few minor charges pertaining to forgery and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Kasab was convicted of almost all 86 charges he was arraigned for.