A Bench of three judges led by Justice Rohinton Nariman on Wednesday reserved for judgment a review petition filed by a man sentenced to death for the gruesome rape of a 10-year-old child and the double murder of her and her seven-year-old brother in Coimbatore nine years ago.
In August this year, a majority decision of Justices Nariman and Hemant Gupta had concluded that the convict, Manoharan, showed no remorse for the heinous crime and found it a case of the “rarest of rare category” deserving the death penalty.
However, Justice Sanjeev Khanna, while confirming the guilt of Manoharan, had dissented with the majority decision and awarded him life sentence without remission/commutation till his natural death.
Manoharan subsequently sought a review of the apex court’s majority judgment on his appeal.
On Wednesday, the Review Bench composed of all the three judges heard senior advocate Siddharth Luthra argue for the condemned man.
Justice Nariman, writing for the majority in August, had said the “crime committed was cold blooded and involves the rape of a minor girl and murder of two children in the most heinous fashion possible”.
The crime occurred on October 29, 2010 with Mohanakrishnan, along with Manoharan, kidnapped the children, on their way to school, and took them to a remote area called Gopalasamy temple hills. The girl was sexually assaulted by both the men. The children were then fed milk with a poisonous substance added to it. They were then tied up and thrown into the swirling waters of Parambikulam-Aliyar Project canal.
