New Delhi, Dec 14: President Droupadi Murmu has rejected the mercy petition of Ravi Ashok Ghumare, who was convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering a two-year-old girl in Maharashtra in 2012, officials confirmed on Sunday. This marks the third mercy plea denied by the President since she assumed office on July 25, 2022.
According to the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Ghumare’s petition was turned down on November 6, 2025.
The Supreme Court had earlier, on October 3, 2019, upheld Ghumare’s death sentence. The three-judge bench, led by Justice Surya Kant (now Chief Justice of India), delivered a 2:1 majority verdict describing the crime as one driven by uncontrollable “carnal desires” that violated “natural, social, and legal limits.”
In the judgment, the court observed that the convict had “ruthlessly extinguished” a life yet to blossom, and that his actions reflected “a dirty and perverted mind” capable of shocking brutality. The verdict further noted that instead of offering care and protection befitting an adult toward a child, Ghumare subjected the victim to unspeakable acts of violence, betraying social trust and moral values.
The crime occurred on March 6, 2012, in Jalna’s Indiranagar area, where Ghumare lured the toddler away with a chocolate before assaulting and murdering her. He was convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court on September 16, 2015, a verdict later upheld by the Bombay High Court in January 2016.
