The Supreme Court on Thursday, 7 November, dismissed a plea filed by a death row convict seeking a review of its verdict affirming his capital punishment for "horribly" gang raping a minor girl and later killing her along with her brother in Coimbatore in 2010.
In a majority judgment of 2:1, a bench headed by Justice RF Nariman said there are no grounds to review their verdict upholding the death penalty of convict Manoharan.
While Justices Nariman and Suryakant dismissed the review plea, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was also part of the three-judge bench, said he has a different view on the point of the sentence only.
"In view of the majority judgment, the review petition stands dismissed in its entirety," the bench said.
In September, the apex court had stayed the execution of the convict, granting him one last opportunity to argue his review petition as it was related to the death penalty.
What’s the Case About?
On 29 October 2010, Manoharan and co-accused Mohanakrishnan picked up the girl and her seven-year-old brother from outside a temple when they were preparing to go to school in Coimbatore.
They raped the girl and tried to kill her sibling by poisoning. When they did not die, the accused threw them into a canal where they drowned. Mohanakrishnan was later shot dead in an encounter.
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