Abolish Death Penalty India: ‘Cyanide’ Mohan

Sunday, December 23, 2018

Serial Killer, ‘Cyanide’ Mohan Kumar Who Killed Scores of Women Gets Life Sentence in a Case of Rape and Murder. (Karnataka)

Abhishek Yadav Feb 26, 2018 10:47 AM IST

Mangaluru, February 26: The Sixth Additional District and Sessions Court convicted a former teacher from Karnataka, Mohan Kumar, in a murder case of a 28-year-old woman of Maladi in Bantwal Taluk. This is the fifth case of conviction out of the 20 cases of murder registered against him.

Mohan Kumar aka Cyanide Mohan

Puttur additional superintendent of police Chandragupta had led his team and arrested the accused on September 21, 2010. The team had also filed a charge- sheet at the court. On Friday, 23 February 2018, the Sixth Additional District Sessions Court in Mangaluru convicted ‘Cyanide’ Mohan on the charges of murder, robbery and rape of a 28-year-old woman. He was given life imprisonment for the heinous act. Mohan Kumar, was termed as ‘Cyanide’ Kumar after cases of him sweet talking girls into a relationship with him and then killing them giving cyanide pills on the pretext of contraceptive came to the public light. Mohan would also do away with the jewellery of these victims. ‘Cyanide’ Mohan was also handed a death sentence by Mangaluru court in the year 2013.

In this case, according to the charge-sheet filed, Mohan got in touch with the victim in September 2009, at the bus stop in Madanthyar and introduced himself as Shashidhar Poojary. He got the woman’s mobile number and after courting her briefly, asked her to marry him. On September 24, he took the victim to a lodge and had sex with her. The next day, he told the victim that she should take a pill for avoiding getting pregnant and asked her to accompany him in a puja the next day. Manoj had already told the victim to get as much jewellery she had to wear it for the puja but told her to leave it in the lodge room as it was not required. He asked her to take the pill in the washroom and the victim died immediately after taking the pill. Mohan then ran away with all the jewellery and mobile phone. After reaching Mangaluru, Mohan sold the valuables at a jewellery shop located on KS Rao Road.

Mohan was convicted under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (Murder), 366 (Kidnapping, abducting or inducing woman to compel her into marriage), 376 (Rape), 417 (Cheating), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), 392 (robbery) and 201 (destruction of evidence). Judith O M Crasta, special public prosecutor, said that a total of 39 witnesses, 43 documents and 48 objects were examined and produced in the court. The Sixth Additional District and Sessions Judge D T Puttarangaswamy heard and upheld the arguments of Crasta’s arguments and convicted Mohan Kumar.

Source: https://www.latestly.com/india/information/karnataka-serial-killer-cyanide-mohan-kumar-who-killed-scores-of-women-gets-life-sentence-in-a-case-of-rape-and-murder-44557.html (Accessed 24 December 2018)

HC commutes death sentence of serial killer in one case (Karnataka)

Published: October 12, 2017 10:47 PM IST

Bengaluru, Oct 12 (PTI) The Karnataka High Court today commuted the death penalty given to a serial killer by a trial court in a murder case of a woman to imprisonment till death.

A division bench of Justice Ravi Mallimath and Justice John Michael D’Cunha commuted the sentence of Mohan Kumar alias ‘Cyanide’ Mohan, who faced charges of killing a number of women between 2003 and 2009. He was sentenced to death in three cases. The court passed the order on the matter referred to it by the trial court for confirmation of the death penalty for killing a woman in a public toilet in Hassan in June, 2009.

The judges held that the prosecution failed to present evidence for the rape and abduction charges against Kumar. According to the prosecution, Kumar allegedly used to lure women to marry him and take them to hotels. Later, he would kill them by giving them birth control pills laced with cyanide. He was caught after the June incident.

The call details of the woman helped police in cracking the case. Police officials were shocked when Kumar, during interrogation, gave chilling details of the murders he had committed. Police had considered those cases as suicide or natural death. The fourth additional district and session’s judge of Mangaluru B K Naik had awarded Kumar the capital punishment in the 2009 murder case, calling it it the rarest of the rare. Kumar faced charges of killing 20 women but was convicted in four cases by the trial court. Out of the four, he was given the death sentence in three and life term in the other.

Mohan Kumar alias ‘Cyanide’ Mohan

The 2009 case had come up before the high court for confirmation of the death penalty. Kumar had filed an appeal against the death sentences and appeared before the high court as the party in person, one who argues his case on his own. He contended that in none of the cases, rape was established and urged the court to commute the punishment to life imprisonment.

Allowing his plea, the court held that the accused had not physically tortured the victim in the present case. Hence, it ordered imprisonment till his death. The court directed jail authorities not to release him as he will not be entitled for remission.

This is published unedited from the PTI feed.

Source: https://www.india.com/news/agencies/hc-commutes-death-sentence-of-serial-killer-in-one-case-2530374/ (Accessed 23 December 2018)

The Death Penalty Scenario in India

India is one of 193 countries that retains the death penalty. Some judges have delivered landmark verdicts upholding the rights of death row prisoners, while debates continue advocating abolition or reform of sentencing policies. The Indian government remains committed to retention, asserting executions occur only in “rarest of rare” cases. The death penalty applies to crimes including murder, kidnapping, terrorism, desertion, inducement to suicide of a minor or mentally-retarded person, and in certain cases of rape. Outrage over child rape and murder has intensified these discussions. After an unofficial eight-year moratorium, the government executed Ajmal Kasab (Mumbai attacks) in 2012 and Afzal Guru (Parliament attack) in 2013, both covertly and immediately after mercy petitions were rejected. Prior to this, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was executed in 2004 after 13 years on death row. Following these, many mercy petitions have been rejected, creating fear among death row convicts. Courts continue to hand down death sentences at an increasing rate. Empirical studies highlight the plight of death row prisoners. The India Exclusion Report 2017-18 found fair trial rights largely denied, with convicts often marginalized by caste, religion, poverty, and education. The Death Penalty Research Project (2015) documented socio-economic profiles and experiences of death row prisoners. Dr. Reena Mary George’s studies (2014, 2009) emphasized poverty, social exclusion, and dignity as central to death row experiences, and examined the human rights impact of the penalty. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2015, 101 prisoners were on death row, with many sentences commuted to life. The “rarest of rare” doctrine introduced by the Supreme Court in the 1980s has not substantially limited death sentences, which have increased over the decades. Justice Joseph (2018) reaffirmed the Bachan Singh judgment but urged restriction of the death penalty to only those cases meeting its criteria. While updating the blog and conducting my own empirical studies, I observed the heinous nature of the crimes that were committed and thought about the families, about their loss, about the victims who for no fault of their own died. If I lost my relative or a dear friend, would I still oppose death penalty and would I still advocate to abolish the death sentence? Having worked in the criminal justice system and also having the seen the other side, where often it is the marginalized, vulnerable and oppressed who are on death row makes me want to advocate for abolition of this punishment. Victims should definitely get justice for their loss, for their pain. No one should escape the rule of law. As long as humanity exists; crime will exist. Should we not re-consider our sentencing policies? Reena Mary George