Chandrabhan Sanap Sentenced to Death in Esther Anuhya Rape Case

Prosecution argued that sympathy would send a bad signal to the victim’s family and the society.

Chandrabhan Sanap was convicted on all counts on Tuesday. (Photo: iStockphoto)

A special women’s court in Mumbai awarded the death sentence to Chandrabhan Sanap, the prime accused in the rape and murder of software engineer Esther Anuhya. On Tuesday, 29-year-old Sanap was convicted under IPC Section 302 (murder), Section 376 (rape) and Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence). Anuhya was abducted, raped and murdered along the Eastern Express Highway on January 5, 2014.

<p>The case falls under the category of the rarest of rare, hence the accused is awarded death sentence...he must be hanged by his neck till he is dead</p>

<p><b>Vrushali Joshi, Special Women’s Court Judge</b></p>

Asking for a death sentence, the prosecution argued that showing sympathy towards Sanap would send a wrong signal and neither the victim’s family nor the society would feel justice has been delivered.

On the other hand, pleading for mercy, the defense lawyers had argued that the convict had undergone reformation while in prison.

Anuhya was a native of Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh and was employed as assistant system engineer with TCS in suburban Goregaon.

Investigators caught Sanap after an exhaustive scrutiny of footage from 36 CCTVs at the railway station and grilling of about 2,500 people. The victim went missing from Lokmanya Tilak terminus near Kurla after arriving by train in the early hours of January 5, 2014.

According to police, Sanap spotted her sitting alone at the railway station and offered to drop her off at Andheri on his two-wheeler. Subsequently, he took her to an isolated spot and strangled her when she resisted his attack.

Anuhya’s decomposed body of the techie was found off the Eastern Express Highway in suburban Bhandup on January 16, 2014. Sanap, who worked as a porter in Mumbai and then as a driver in Nashik, is a person with a criminal record.