Chennai: The Madras High Court has commuted to life term, the death sentence of a man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend by pushing her in front of a train here in 2022, PTI reported.
D Sathish had pushed the woman, a student, on the track at St Thomas Mount here after she disowned him. Before she got up, a train ran over her.
A division bench comprising Justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman passed the order on Thursday while partly allowing an appeal filed by the accused.
The bench directed that the appellant/accused shall not be entitled to any statutory remission or commutation until he serves incarceration for a period of 20 years.
The motive of pushing the deceased on the railway track, particularly on noticing that the train was entering the railway station, has also been clearly established. The accused had a "love affair" with the deceased, a fact which has been clearly established not only by prosecution witnesses but also by the evidence of others who have been examined to prove the previous complaints given against the accused that he was stalking her and giving trouble, the bench said.
He had created a ruckus in front of the college where the victim was studying. Therefore, the motive on the part of the accused to commit the crime by eliminating the deceased in view of the fact that she disowned him has been clearly established, it added.
The bench said it was clear from the analysis of the deposition of witnesses and the materials found that only the accused had pushed the deceased in a fit of rage due to the failure of a love affair, as she had disowned him.
The bench said on a perusal of the entire evidence and also looking at the manner in which the accused pushed her and was waiting in the railway station, not only on the occurrence date but also on the previous day, "this court is of the view that the accused has meticulously executed his plan of doing away (with) the deceased."
"Therefore, his act will not fall within the ambit of any of the exceptions as contended by the senior counsel appearing for the accused," the court said.