Soumya murder: SC to hear review petition on Nov 11

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred hearing on the review petition filed by Soumya’s mother, Sumathy, and the Kerala government seeking review of its judgement that commuted death penalty handed to the victim’s rapist Govindachamy.

In her petition, Soumya’s mother contended that the state failed to present a complete picture of the criminal antecedents of Govindachamy. She submitted that it did not matter whether Soumya “fell off” the running train or “jumped off”. The apex court should have first considered Govindachamy’s presence in the train, his intention to cause her harm and the brutal assault in the train which culminated in her rape and death, she said.

A three-judge bench presided over by Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on September 15 replaced the charge of murder — for which the convict was awarded capital punishment — with ‘voluntarily causing grievous hurt’ and reduced Govindachami’s death penalty to seven-year imprisonment. The court, however, confirmed the sentence of life imprisonment for “brutal and grotesque rape.”