A weeping Sumathi is seen on left. A photo Soumya on right. PTI/Onmanorama file photosNew Delhi: Sumathi, mother of Soumya, who was allegedly pushed out of a moving train and brutally raped on a rail track in Kerala in 2011, Thursday filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the court's order which commuted accused Govindachamy's death penalty.
In the petition, Sumathi has stated that there is enough evidence to prove murder charges against that Govindachamy in the case. Sumathi has also requested the court that it should listen to her statement when the case will be considered.
The 23-year-old Soumya was attacked, pushed out of a moving train and brutally raped on February 1, 2011. She succumbed to injuries at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thrissur, on February 6, 2011.
The apex court had recently dropped the murder charge against Govindachamy and commuted his death penalty to seven years of jail while upholding the life imprisonment awarded by a trial court on charges of rape.
The LDF government in Kerala had also stated that it would file a review petition in the case.
"Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi will appear for the state government and would request for an open court hearing in the case," Kerala law minister A.K. Balan had said earlier.
Balan had said that the AG would contend in the court to review the case under the ambit of section 302 of the IPC, as section 325 (voluntarily causing grevious hurt) had been invoked by the apex court which itself had recognised one among two major injuries on Soumya's body as a reason for her death.
There was widespread criticism in the state over the apex court's decision with the Sumathi stating that it was a 'heartbreaking' judgment.
The apex court had discharged Govindachami under section 302 (murder) of IPC, in which the maximum sentence is capital punishment, saying there was no intention on his part to kill the victim but only to sexually assault her by keeping her in a supine position.
While dropping section 302 of IPC, a bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi, P.C. Pant and U.U. Lalit held him guilty for the offense of causing grievous hurt under section 325 of the IPC and awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment which will run concurrently with the life sentence awarded to him.
A Thrissur fast-track court had awarded the lone accused, Govindachami death sentence, considering him a habitual offender. The decision was upheld by the Kerala High Court. However, the apex court, on a petition by the accused, commuted his death sentence.
(With agency inputs)
