Kochi: Calling the attitude of Soumya’s fellow passengers as cruel which also paved the way for her tragic death, Kerala High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy.
Soumya, 23, was raped and murdered by Govindachamy on the night of February 1, 2011 after he threw her out from the ladies compartment of a passenger train from Ernakulam to Shoranur, near Thrissur , a day before her wedding engagement.
A division bench comprising Justice T. R. Ramachandran Nair and Justice B. Kemal Pasha found that there was absolutely nothing to interfere with the conviction passed by the Thrissur fast track court (Thrissur Sessions Court) and dismissed the appeal filed by Govindachamy, a native of Tamil Nadu.
In a 359- page order, the court held that sparing such a criminal from the gallows will render the judicial system suspect. “To have recourse to the lesser alternative in sentencing the accused will be a mockery of justice. This murder was committed in the most cruel and diabolic manner. It also comes under the rarest of rare case,” the bench held.
The fast track court had sentenced Govindachamy under section 376 (rape) and 302 (murder) of IPC with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. “After inflicting fatal injuries on Soumya, she was pushed down from the running train, which resulted in her sustaining further injuries. The bones on the left side of her face were fractured and fragmented. Her 14 teeth were lost.
“Thereafter, the accused jumped out of the train, and brutally raped Soumya who was almost unconscious. A criminal, who is a monstrous creature, barged into the compartment and pounced upon her as a wild beast,” the court said.
Govindachamy acted as a necrophile and robbed her of her mobile and escaped leaving the victim nude near the railway track. Govindachamy’s counsel said he would challenge the High Court order in the Supreme Court Court.
Next: HC finds defence lawyer unethical
HC finds defence lawyer unethical
Rohit Raj | DC
Kochi: The Kerala High Court court, while confirming the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy in the Soumya murder case, flayed the unhealthy practice adopted by B A Aloor who defended the accused. Aloor had made defamatory and scandalous remarks about the victim as well as many other persons who did not even have any connection with the Soumya case during the hearing of the case.
The Kerala High Court court, while confirming the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy in the Soumya murder case, flayed the unhealthy practice adopted by B A Aloor who defended the accused. Aloor had made defamatory and scandalous remarks about the victim as well as many other persons who did not even have any connection with the Soumya case during the hearing of the case.
The court observed "We do not understand why the lower court had permitted Adv Aloor to put questions containing defamatory and scandalous remarks about the victim and other persons”.
The court observed, “the ordeal of the deceased continued even after her death in the form of such cross examination through falsely imputing allegations of immorality. Character assassinations have been done by way of such cross-examination against the innocent victim and other persons”.
The court flayed Aloor and directed the High Court Registrar General to forward the copy of the judgment to the Bar Council of Kerala and Bar Council of India for taking proper action against him.
“Those questions were indecent and scandalous and were not expected from a lawyer”, the court observed. The court added that under the guise of cross examination, a lawyer cannot be permitted to raise defamatory and scandalous matters against the victim or others.
Next: Rlys turned blind eye to safety norms
Rlys turned blind eye to safety norms
Kochi: Blaming the Indian Railways for turning a blind eye towards passenger safety, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday urged the railways to provide adequate safety measures to women commuters.
"The largest public transport system in the country should provide adequate safety measures to women passengers especially those who travel by the ladies compartment". The court made the observation while hearing the Soumya rape and murder case. The court opined that if the railways were more vigilant, the incident could have been prevented. Lack of security in ladies compartments paves the way for criminal activities, the court observed.
“Let the ordeals undergone by Soumya, be an eyeopener to the public as well as the Indian Railways”, the court observed. The special public prosecutor A Suresan had submitted that even after the Soumya case, a series of similar incidents occurred, but even then ladies coaches were being attached at the rear end of trains.
The court observed that the ladies coaches should be attached in the middle of trains. There should be at least two armed women guards, who are equipped with sufficient modern communication facilities, employed on duty at a time, in each such ladies coach." the court held.
The court also asked the registry to issue a copy of the order to the Indian Railways and observed that it expected an earnest positive attitude on the part of the railways.
Next: Others failed to save Soumya
Others failed to save Soumya
Kochi: Confirming the death sentence awarded to Govindachamy in the Soumya rape and murder case, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that had the public gone to the aid of the 23-year-old victim, who had cried for help, she may have been saved.
The court severely criticised passengers who failed to save Soumya. The court went on to ask whether it can categorise the persons who failed to pull the alarm chain as responsible citizens of the country.
"The attitude of society must change. No doubt, the departed soul of the girl will be hovering around their minds leaving a question towards their inaction to respond, and will haunt them with the incident as a nightmare," the court observed The court observed that the inaction of fellow passengers was worse than the brutality of the offender and such silence will only encourage criminals to continue with their crimes.
"Had a middle aged man, who could not be identified by the police, and some passengers not dissuaded a witness from stopping the train by pulling the alarm chain, the poor girl could have been rescued and the accused could not have ran away," the court held.
A division bench of Justice T R Ramachandran Nair and Justice B Kemal Pasha observed that the foremost duty of every member of the public is to extend a helping hand to the needy and to hear their cries with an open heart.
Sensitisation programmes to create awareness among the public so that they know how to react in such situations are essential, the court said.
Soumya was travelling in the Ernakulam-Shoranur passenger train in the women's compartment in February 2011, when Govindachamy molested her.
He threw her off the moving train and jumped off himself. He then hit her on the head with a stone and raped her. Soumya died in hospital a few days later. A Thrissur fast track court had awarded the death sentence.
Next: Convicted beyond redemption
Convicted beyond redemption
Kochi: Pointing out that Tamil Nadu native Govindachamy who raped and killed Soumya was convicted in 7 various criminal cases, the high court found that he was a habitual offender and he deserved maximum punishment.
His confessions reveal his mannerisms and sexual perversion and he has admitted to being a heterosexual and homosexual, the court observed. During the hearing of the Soumya rape and murder case, Special Public Prosecutor A Suresan gave a submission about the conduct of Govindachamy in jail. "The jail authorities are finding it difficult to manage Govindachamy on account of his homosexual behaviour.
He is always quarrelsome and often exhibits violent behavior destroying jail property and even attacking other prisoners and even jail officials." He further submitted that it was not possible even to handcuff him as he was an amputee. "The accused is a bloodthirsty, hardened criminal, beyond any redemption, correction or rehabilitation", he said.
The accused, while he was in Kannur central jail, used abusive words against officials and prevented them from discharging their official duties by pouring human excreta on them bodies and even destroyed an observation camera installed in the cell by throwing excreta on it.
