Breaking: Saumya Case: SC Agrees To Hear Review Petition In Open Court Tomorrow

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear in open court on Friday two petitions by State of Kerala and Soumya’s mother seeking review of its vedict acquitting Govindachami in the Soumya murder case.

On 15 September, the Supreme Court Bench comprising Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Prafulla C. Pant and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit had dropped the murder charge against Govindachami and commuted his death penalty to seven years of jail while upholding the life imprisonment awarded by a trial court on charges of rape.

In her petition, Soumya’s mother Sumathy said the state failed to present a complete picture of the criminal antecedents of Govindachami.

She also contended that it did not matter whether Soumya “fell off” the running train, or “jumped off”.

In her petition, she stated that the Supreme Court should have first considered Govindachami’s presence in the train, his intention to cause harm to Soumya and the brutal assault in the train, which culminated in her rape and death.

On 1 February, 2011, Soumya of Shornur was pushed off from the Ernakulam-Shoranur passenger train and brutally raped. She later succumbed to injuries. The trial court had awarded death sentence to accused Govindachami, which was later upheld by the Kerala High Court.

The apex court judgment acquitting Govindachami of murder charges had evoked strong criticism from the public and also from legal parlance.

This article has been made possible because of financial support from Independent and Public-Spirited Media Foundation.