The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 1) dealing with sexual assault of 8-month-old girl in New Delhi refused to accept the petitioner’s demand for death sentence to the accused (the infant’s 28-year-old cousin), saying that it would examine every part of the case.

The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and  D Y Chandrachud was informed that an FIR has been lodged and accused has been arrested.

Earlier, during the course of proceedings, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P S Narsimha submitted the AIIMS report while member secretary of Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) also filed the report.

The petitioner Alakh Alok Srivastava, while referring to the POCSO Act and reading out the sections in which rigorous punishment is mandated, had urged the bench to hand out rigorous punishment, possibly capital punishment.

The bench told the petitioner that it would examine every part of it and then take a decision while also directing him to file a report on pending cases of such nature.

The bench posted the matter to March 12.

As of now, the victim is still critical at Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital, in Delhi.

—India Legal Bureau