Sunday, July 28, 2013

Wife's murder: High Court commutes death penalty to life term

24th July 2013 12:56 PM
The High Court on Tuesday set aside the death penalty awarded to Saji alias Unni of Perumbavoor, for the murder of his wife in 2010, and commuted it to life imprisonment. A division bench comprising Justice S Siri Jagan and Justice K Ramakrishnan passed an order while quashing the order of Ernakulam District and Sessions Court. The Bench awarded life term and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on the accused. The prosecution case was that  the petitioner had also attempted to murder his mother-in-law. The court held that “life imprisonment is a rule and death penalty is an exception”.
It also said that murder was a grave offence. But, merely because it was committed, death penalty cannot be awarded. The case will not come under the rarest of the rare category so capital punishment is not needed, said the Bench. The court directed that Rs 20,000 from the fine amount should be given to the mother of the victim and Rs 80,000 to the child.

Source : http://newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/Wifes-murder-High-Court-commutes-death-penalty-to-life-term/2013/07/24/article1699038.ece

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