'Quite Close To Cannibalism' Bombay High Court Upholds Death Sentence Of Man For Killing His Mother, Eating Her Organs

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday upheld the death sentence awarded to a man, who brutally killed his own mother and later ate her organs.

A division bench of Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Prithviraj Chavan pronounced the judgment in the open court while the appellant Sunil Kuchkoravi was produced through video conferencing facility.

"This is a rarest of rare case, wherein the appellant not only killed his mother but removed her organs like brain, heart etc and was about to cook the same on a stove. Thus, we have upheld your death sentence, as awarded to you by the sessions court," Justice Chavan told Kuchkoravi.

In its 71-page judgment, the bench after detailing the manner in which the convict killed his mother, eviscerated her organs and was about to 'cook' some of them by applying salt and chilly powder, said that his conduct indicated "pathological cannibalism."

"The act of the convict was quite close to cannibalism," the judges said.

Further, the judges expressed shock over the defence of the convict that since he was habitual to consume flesh of cats and pigs, therefore, perhaps he might have committed the said offence.

"To release such a person would amount to giving him a free ride and freedom to commit similar offence qua the members of the society," the judges underscored.

The judges highlighted the tortured meted out by the convict to the old fragile defenceless mother, who had absolutely no chance to defend herself from a well built hefty son to whom she used to provide meals twice a day, in view of the fact that wife and children of the convict had already abandoned him, perhaps because of his such conduct.

"The act of the convict in committing the murder of his mother even cannot be compared with an act of a butcher, who chops flesh. The conduct of the convict even cannot be regarded as a 'Betrayal of Trust' of his mother as it would be too small a word to describe what he did," the order authored by Justice Chavan reads. 

The bench has said that giving a life sentence to the convict would pose a threat to inmates in the jail, where he will be lodged and later to the society.

"Apart from the extreme brutality, cruelty and barbarism with which the convict had murdered his mother in a cold blooded manner, one cannot turn nelson's eye that his conduct was akin to cannibalism and, therefore, he could be a potential threat and danger to the inmates in the jail, in case, sentence of life imprisonment is awarded. A person who could commit such a heinous crime by killing his mother, can do so with anyone else, including his own family," the judges underscored.

The judge noted that the convict did not show any kind of remorse and also the bleak chances of rehabilitation in the society.

"He is not at all fit for any kind of reformatory and rehabilitation scheme. Life imprisonment would be completely futile as the sentencing aim of reformation is completely unachievable. During interaction with the convict through Video Conferencing, we do not find any remorse, penitence or repentance on his face. Normally, a deep regret should have come from him by a deep sense of guilt. He just feigned innocence contending that he does not remember anything," Justice Chavan has said in the order. 

Notably, the appellant Sunil Kuchkoravi was convicted and sentenced to death by a sessions court in Kolhapur in July 2021 saying that the incident had shaken the "collective conscience of the society". The sessions court further observed that the present case was associated with "extreme brutality and shamelessness".

Kuchkoravi killed his mother in August 2017 and soon after that a neighborhood child found him standing near his mother's body, covered in blood stains. He was thereafter, arrested by the police.

According to the prosecution case, Kuchkoravi's wife left him and took along their three daughters and a son, after being unable to bear the constant torture he subjected her to due to his drinking habits. He therefore, lived with his old mother, who. was dependent on Rs 4,000 which she got as a pension. The accused often quarrelled with the old mother, who provided him two meals a day and he event assault her after drinking.

Appearance:

Additional Public Prosecutor Prajakta Shinde appeared for the State

Advocate Dr Yug Mohit Chaudhry represented the Convicted.

Case Title: State of Maharashtra vs Sunil Kuchkoravi (Confirmation Case 1 of 2021)

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