TCS techie rape & murder case: Bombay HC admits Sanap's appeal against death penalty

Mumbai, Jan 5: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday admitted an appeal filed by Chandrabhan Sanap, convicted in the rape and murder case of a Hyderabad techie, challenging the death penalty awarded to him by a special court last year.

A special court had on October 30 last year convicted Sanap for raping and murdering a 23-year-old TCS techie, after picking her up from suburban Lokmanya Tilak Terminus under the false promise of dropping her at her hostel in Andheri.

The trial court had observed that the case falls under the category of 'rarest of rare'. According to the prosecution, the victim who hails from Andhra Pradesh, had returned to the city on January 5 last year after visiting her family in Machilipatnam.

Arriving at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in suburban Kurla, she met Sanap, who offered to drop her home in Andheri for Rs 300. [TCS techie raped, murdered: Guilty to be hanged till death]

Sanap then raped and murdered her and tried to get rid of the body in the bushes along the Eastern Express Highway in Bhandup. After a search, her family found the body on January 16.

Sanap was arrested in March. Subsequently, he was charged with murder, rape, kidnapping and other charges.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice V K Tahilramani and Justice Sadhana Jadhav today admitted Sanap's appeal.

It will come up for final hearing in due course. The state government has also filed a petition seeking confirmation of the death sentence which will be heard along with Sanap's appeal.

PTI