Kerala’s Soumya died after Rape on tracks. attacker won’t be hanged, says court

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Sep 15, 2016:  In 2011, 23-year-old Soumya was allegedly pushed off a train in Kerala by a man who jumped after her, hit her with a stone and then raped her in her wounded state. The attacker, Govindachamy, will not be hanged, the Supreme Court ruled today, reducing his sentence to seven years in jail.

A fast track court had held Govindachamy guilty and sentenced him to death. The Kerala High Court confirmed the sentence. The Supreme Court, however, said today that there is evidence of rape but not enough of murder.

Soumya, who worked in a mall in Ernakulam, was returning home in February, 2011, to Shoranur about 100 km away, when she was attacked in the women’s compartment. Govindachamy, a serial offender from Tamil Nadu, attacker her and tried to rob her. 

The prosecution told the court that Soumya was pushed off the moving train when she fought Govindachamy.

She was found unconscious near the track. She died five days later in hospital.

The top court today said there is no evidence that she was thrown off the train and did not jump off.

At her home in Kerala, her mother broke down as reporters asked her to respond to the court order. "He did this to my daughter. And he will not even be hanged...My heart is broken. All this while I thought we will get justice. Nothing," she sobbed.