Bombay High Court Confirms Death Sentence On Catholic Boys By SAR NEWS
MUMBAI, Maharashtra (SAR NEWS) -- The Bombay High Court has confirmed death sentence passed on two Catholics Ashis Warawale and Clint Fernandes and five-year jail term to the third accused, Wilfred Dias. In November 2003, Warawale and his friends, Fernandes and Karan Khanna, then 20, 19, 20, stabbed to death their cookery class teacher, Leticia Mendes, 54, hanged her 18-month-old grandson Dylan, and attempted to kill her daughter Glenda before robbing Rs 75,000 and ornaments from their Borivli home. The sensational double murder had sent shock waves among the Catholic parishioners in Borivli, prompting them to counsel the an eye on their activities. "The killers had shown no remorse or repentance at any time. The murder of the infant Dylan was diabolical and cruel", Justices D.G.Deshpande and S.A. Bobabde said in their judgment, August 9, confirming the death sentence ordered by a Sessions Court last November 25. The order said the two be "hanged by the neck till death". "After robbing and stabbing Leticia, they attempted to murder her daughter Glenda so that she does not remain alive to testify against them", the judges said, adding that there were no grounds to pardon the killers. "The educated boys belonging to middle class respectable families without criminal antecedents did not remain content with just robbing Mendes", the order said. The High Court has stayed the execution of its order for eight weeks to allow them to approach the Supreme Court. The key conspirator Wilfred Dias, whom Mendes knew well, and was not present at the scene of the crime, escaped with five-year term in jail. Their lawyer Majeed Memon had sought clemency on the grounds of their age. He said the judgment was "unexpected" and would appeal to the Supreme Court. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
