Court refuses to convict mentally ill woman for burning alive seven

It orders her admission to Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk

June 14, 2017 09:19 pm | Updated June 15, 2017 09:30 am IST - RAMANATHAPURAM

The Principal District Court here has refused to convict and sentence a 40-year-old woman who was charged with burning alive seven people, including three children, holding that she was in a state of unsound mind while committing the crime.

Passing the orders on the more than six-year-old case on Tuesday, Principal District Judge A. Kayalvizhi said though the prosecution had proved the case, the accused could not be convicted and sentenced as she was mentally ill, and directed the police to admit her to the Institute of Mental Health, Kilpauk, in Chennai.

Citing Section 24 of the Mental Health Act, the judge said she was satisfied that accused was mentally ill. She also cited Section 84 of the Indian Penal Code which said “nothing is an offence which is done by a person who, at the time of doing it, by reason of unsoundness of mind, is incapable of knowing the nature of the act, or that he/she is doing what is either wrong or contrary to law.”

The judge, however, directed the accused, Haseena hailing from Kerala, to pay a compensation of ₹25,000 each to the families of the deceased and ₹12,500 to each of the two injured. The compensation should be given to the victims after attaching her property, she said.

M. Somasundaram, who appeared for Haseena, said two days after she committed the crime on January 24, 2009, Haseena was produced before a psychiatrist in Madurai, who certified that she was undergoing treatment for schizophrenia. Citing High Court orders, he argued that Haseena could not be convicted as she was mentally ill at the time of committing the crime.

The prosecution case was that the accused visited Erwadi with her husband to get spiritual healing for her mental illness at the dargah. While staying in a rented house, she suspected that her husband had an illicit relationship with a woman of a family from Pallapattu in Karur, staying in the adjacent house.

On the fateful day, the woman and others of her family were sitting in the veranda when Haseena poured kerosene on them and set them ablaze. The woman and six others, including three girl children aged 7, 8 and 12 years, perished in the fire, public prosecutor Navanathan said.

Soon after obtaining bail, she went to Kerala and was absconding for nearly five years. She was brought back to face trial in 2015.

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