INDIA: KERALA HIGH COURT COMMUTES CONTRACTOR’S DEATH PENALTY TO LIFE SENTENCE

September 4, 2019:

The Kerala High Court on 29 August 2019 commuted to life imprisonment the death sentence awarded by the Kasaragod Sessions Court to a civil contractor for the murder of 14-year-old Safiya, a maidservant who was working in his house.
A Division Bench comprising Justice AM Shaffique and Justice N Anilkumar issued the order on an appeal filed by  KC Hamsa from Muliyar, Kasaragod, seeking to quash the death sentence awarded to him.
The Bench observed that the accused did not have any criminal history. After coming to know about the girl’s injury, he was trying to hide it, probably to avoid any legal complication. “True that the action is brutal. However, taking a cue from the Supreme Court judgments, we (the court) are of the opinion the death penalty need not be imposed,” observed the bench.
On July 16, 2015, the Kasaragod Sessions Court awarded death sentence to Hamsa.