MUMBAI – Two Indian judges on Monday confirmed the death sentence for the sole surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in which 10 Islamist militants laid siege to the city, killing 166 people. The Bombay High Court dismissed the claim by Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab that he was wrongfully convicted of taking part in the attacks.
The judges also threw out the state’s appeal against a lower court’s decision to acquit two Indian nationals accused of providing hand-drawn maps to the 10 gunmen. Kasab, who did not attended the appeal for security reasons but was able to follow proceedings via video link, looked at the floor as the judgment was handed down, news channel NDTV said.
“Harsh penalty of death is required in some cases, especially this one, and the court would be sending a wrong signal to society if any penalty less than death is given,” judges Ranjana Desai and RV More said in their ruling. “Kasab has never shown any remorse after his arrest and we have observed that even on video conference he has not shown any signs of regret,” they added.
The 23-year-old was found guilty last May of a string of offences including waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai. During the trial, the prosecution produced weighty fingerprint, DNA, eye-witness, CCTV and other evidence against him.
