| The convicted Mumbai attacker Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab will be sentenced on Thursday, said an Indian special court?in Mumbai?on Tuesday.
The decision was made after a debate on the penalty to be given by the prosecutors, defense lawyer and court judge.
Prosecution earlier sought death sentence for Kasab, a day after the special court convicted the lone surviving Pakistani militant for waging war against the state and mass murder in the Mumbai terror attacks case.
"Such a monster should be given death penalty. He is an agent of devil himself. If Kasab is given lesser punishment, India will become a soft target for every self-styled terror group. There has been a high degree of cruelty and Kasab had total disregard for life," Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the special court.
The special court said that the 22-year-old gunman of 86 crimes charged against him, while two Indian nationals, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, accused of being members of Pakistan militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and conducting reconnaissance in Mumbai before the attack, were acquitted.
"Kasab has lost every right to live. He was not happy after killing 72 persons and wanted to kill more. There was no remorse and he said in his confession before the magistrate that he wanted to inspire future fidayeens (suicide killers). If death is not awarded, it would be a mockery of justice," Nikam said, during his arguments on the quantum of sentence to be meted out to Kasab.
While, Kasab's defense lawyer K. P. Pawar requested for leniency, the prosecution stressed that the case qualifies as rarest of rare.
The penalty for most of the charges against Kasab is either life imprisonment or death.
Kasab has a right to file an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the verdict of the trial court. At the same time, the trial court judgment would be referred to the High Court for confirmation. |
