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Death for college student

Staff Reporter

Mahila Sessions Court's verdict in Srilakshmi killing case

VIJAYAWADA: The Mahila Sessions Court Judge, M. Chalapathi Rao, on Thursday awarded capital punishment to Y. Manohar, a student of Sarada College in the city, for killing his classmate R. Srilakshmi, in broad daylight in the college classroom on June 21, 2004.

The Judge had already announced that the accused person was liable to be punished under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Reading out extracts from his 85-page judgment in an overcrowded court hall, the judge felt that it was the `rarest of the rare' case and awarding of the `maximum penalty' was justified. "The accused person is an intellectual criminal and is a menace to society. Such elements should not be allowed to move in society. The court felt that such elements should be curbed with an iron hand," he said.

Referring to cases of attack on girl students in educational institutions, the judge felt that it was time to make some amendments to the IPC to take serious action against such ``perverted lovers.'' Educational institutions must check the antecedents of students before giving admissions, he opined.

Background

Examining the background of the case, the judge said Manohar was the son of a bank employee and was not from a poverty-ridden background. Srilakshmi was a gold medallist and top ranker in MCA. Manohar threatened the girl with dire consequences and harassed her by making telephone calls. "The accused killed the victim in broad daylight by using a weapon in front of all her classmates. A team of doctors certified that he had no psychological disorder. Since it is a gruesome crime with a clear intention, the punishment should be severe and the common man should not lose his faith in courts and the judicial system," the judge said.

Similar cases

The judge referred to the judgments of the Supreme Court in cases such as Karnataka Government versus Krishna, in which the court stated that there was no need to consider the background of caste, creed and religion of the accused, and Ramdev Chowhan versus Assam Government in which the court justified maximum penalty to the accused who killed a woman and her child.

The judge found fault with women's organisations and student federations for staging demonstration on the court premises demanding capital punishment to the accused in the present case. "The organisations should not interfere with the functioning of the court," he said.

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