President Murmu Rejects Mercy Plea in Child Rape-Murder Case: Supreme Court Upholds Death Sentence

President Droupadi Murmu has denied the mercy petition submitted by a man convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a two-year-old girl in Maharashtra in 2012, officials confirmed on Sunday.

This marks the third mercy plea President Murmu has rejected since taking office on July 25, 2022.

On October 3, 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence given to Ravi Ashok Ghumare, stating that he demonstrated no restraint over his "carnal desires" and transgressed all natural, social, and legal boundaries merely to satisfy his sexual urges.

In its judgment, a three-judge panel including Justice Surya Kant (now Chief Justice of India), with a 2:1 majority decision, declared that the convict had "ruthlessly finished" a life that was just beginning to develop, and his act of committing unnatural offenses against the two-year-old revealed "a dirty and perverted mind, showcasing a horrifying tale of brutality."

Ghumare's mercy petition was rejected by President Murmu on November 6, 2025, according to information disclosed by the Rashtrapati Bhavan regarding the status of the mercy petition.

The court noted that "the victim was barely a two-year-old baby whom the appellant kidnapped and apparently kept on assaulting for over four to five hours until she breathed her last."

"The appellant, who had no control over his carnal desires, surpassed all natural, social and legal limits just to satiate his sexual hunger. He ruthlessly finished a life which was yet to bloom," Justice Surya Kant wrote in the verdict, representing himself and (now retired) Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman.

The majority verdict emphasized that instead of providing fatherly love, affection, and protection to the child against society's evils, the appellant made her a victim of his lust.

"It's a case where trust has been betrayed, and social values are impaired. The unnatural sex with a two-year-old toddler exhibits a dirty and perverted mind, showcasing a horrifying tale of brutality," the verdict stated.

According to prosecutors, the incident occurred on March 6, 2012, in the Indiranagar locality of Maharashtra's Jalna city. Ghumare had lured the young victim with a chocolate.

The trial court convicted him and imposed the death penalty on September 16, 2015. The Bombay High Court subsequently upheld his death sentence in January 2016.