Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Dec 16: President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy petition of a man convicted of kidnapping, raping and killing a two-year-old girl in Maharashtra in 2012, officials said on Sunday.

This is the third mercy petition rejected by the President since she assumed office on July 25, 2022. The mercy plea of Ravi Ashok Ghumare was rejected on November 6, 2025, according to the status disclosed by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The Supreme Court had on October 3, 2019, upheld the death sentence awarded to Ghumare, observing that he had no control over his “carnal desires” and had crossed all natural, social and legal limits to satisfy his sexual urges.

In a majority verdict of 2:1, a three-judge bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, now Chief Justice of India, and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, described the crime as one of extreme brutality. The court said Ghumare had “ruthlessly finished” a life that was yet to bloom and that the offence reflected a “dirty and perverted mind”.

The bench noted that the victim was barely two years old and was assaulted for several hours before succumbing to her injuries. Instead of showing fatherly care and protection, the convict betrayed trust and subjected the child to extreme cruelty, the court observed.

According to the prosecution, the incident occurred on March 6, 2012, in the Indiranagar area of Jalna city in Maharashtra, where the accused lured the child with a chocolate.

The trial court convicted Ghumare and awarded him the death penalty on September 16, 2015. The sentence was later upheld by the Bombay High Court in January 2016.