Sadistic killer smiles and brawls after he is sentenced to death

Soon after being awarded the death sentence a grinning Ankur Panwar lost his cool and attacked Preetirsquos brother Hitesh in court It took a dozen cops to pry him away IllustrationUday MohiteEven on the day of reckoning Ankur Panwar could not seem to muster any remorse for flinging acid on Preeti Rathi in 2013 and causing her an agonising death The 26yearold was all smiles even as the judge sentenced him to death for the vicious crime Minutes later he got into a brawl with the victimrsquos family and hit Preetirsquos brother before the police dragged him awayAnkur PanwarAfter the Rathi family spent three years fighting for justice for their daughter it took all of 10 minutes to seal Panwarrsquos fate yesterdayAlso Read Preeti Rathi acid attack case Ankur Panwar sentenced to deathEnraged by Panwarrsquos smiling face and aggressive demeanour Preetirsquos brother Hitesh slapped him but Panwar managed to strike back before the cops took him away IllustrationUday MohiteThe Special Womenrsquos Court judge AS Shende called Panwar to the witness box and declared ldquoHe should be hanged by the neck till death subject to confirmation by the Bombay High CourtrdquoBrawl in courtPreetirsquos father Amar Singh Rathi her brother Hitesh and a female relative had come to hear the sentence On the other hand Panwar was alone as he had asked his mother to return to Delhi But a constant smile remained on his face even after he returned to the accusedrsquos boxAs Preetirsquos family was passing by Panwar the female relative Anita Yadav looked at him and asked him why he was smiling Panwar was seen making aggressive gestures at Anita and in no time an argument broke out between themPreetirsquos brother Hitesh intervened and slapped Panwar The police immediately sprung into action but Panwar managed to strike back at Hitesh before he was taken awayShortly after the scuffle Preetirsquos father emerged from the courthouse and said ldquoI am satisfied with the verdict If he appeals in the high court I will make sure he gets the death sentence there too This kind of a man has no place in society he deserves to be in jail He is a cruel man and he canrsquot be good to his parents either He deserves this punishmentrdquoHe further said ldquoWe were not sure at that time about who did it But Preeti told us that whoever did this should be hangedrdquoLandmark judgmentBy his own admission Panwar hadnrsquot expected the death penalty Until this point acid attacks were not categorised as the rarest of rare cases that justified capital punishmentRead Story Sadists like Ankur Panwar take pleasure in victims agony ProsecutionOne of the investigating officers Ashok Khot said ldquoAfter the new amendment in laws on acid attack cases this is the first time the death penalty has been awarded to an accusedrdquoThe judge pointed out several factors to explain how the crime deserved the stern punishment She observed that Panwar had been unable to explain the acid marks on his hand which were probably from the attack on PreetiThe judge said that this was one of the first acid attacks in which the victim had died further pointing out Panwar flung 2 kg of sulphuric acid on her which showed the intention to kill herIt is worth noting that he was given the death penalty under Section 302 murder and sentenced to five years of imprisonment under Section 326 attempted acid throwing of the IPC along with a fine of Rs 5000