The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the curative petition filed by the Kerala government which sought the reinstatement of the death penalty on Govindachami, the man who was convicted of raping 23-year-old Soumya in 2011.
Responding to the verdict, Soumya’s mother told media that Govindachami’s death would alone invite justice in the case and that she would continue to fight for it.
In a horrific incident, Govindachami had pushed Soumya out of a moving train and later raped her. She later succumbed to her injuries.
In 2016, the apex court had dropped the murder charge against Govindachami and commuted his sentence to seven years in prison.
Then Kerala Law Minister AK Balan had said the case would be brought under the section 302 of IPC in order to justify the death penalty.
The top court’s verdict had caused disappointment among people who wanted capital punishment for the convict.
Many people had openly criticised the apex court for its judgement. Former Judge Justice Markandey Katju even wrote a Facebook post criticising the top court’s verdict.
