Chennai A man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend by shoving her in front of a train here in 2022 has had his death sentence mitigated to life in prison by the Madras High Court.
After the wife disowned him, D Sathish shoved her on the track at St. Thomas Mount. A train ran over her before she could get up.
On Thursday, a division bench made up of Justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman issued the ruling, partially granting the accused's appeal.
The bench ruled that the appellant/accused would not be eligible for any statutory remission or commutation until he had completed 20 years in incarceration.It has also been revealed why the deceased was pushed into the railroad track, especially after realizing the train was approaching the train station. The bench stated that the accused had a "love affair" with the deceased, which was amply demonstrated by the prosecution's witnesses as well as by the testimony of other people who were questioned to support the earlier allegations made against the accused that he was bothering her and stalking her.
He had caused a disturbance in front of the victim's college. It further stated that the accused's motivation for killing the deceased—given that she disowned him—has been amply demonstrated.

After reviewing all of the evidence and considering how the accused shoved her while she was waiting in the train station both on the day of the incident and the day before, the bench declared, "this court is of the view that the accused has meticulously executed his plan of doing away the deceased."
"Therefore, his act will not fall within the ambit of any of the exceptions as contended by the senior counsel appearing for the accused" .

Sathish was undoubtedly subject to punishment under IPC section 302. The bench said, "Therefore, the charge against the accused under section 302 of the IPC has been clearly established."The accused had undoubtedly made the decision to kill the woman, the bench declared. At the same time, it was important to remember that a woman chose her marriage. The accused will not be permitted to take the life of the deceased girl just because she disowned him.
The woman's mother, who had cancer, also passed away as a result of her death, and her father had taken his own life. The accused's actions shattered and devastated the deceased's whole family. The bench further stated that the accused's actions plainly show that he was emotionally and mentally disturbed as a result of his frustration over the breakdown of his relationship with the dead.

The court stated that the likelihood of the accused's reformation was higher given his age and the fact that he had no negative past before the incident. His chances of reforming are higher. The bench further stated that the sentencing strategy itself was solely for reformative justice and not retributive justice.
The bench stated that "we are of the view that the death sentence is not warranted and if life imprisonment is awarded, that will meet the ends of justice" after taking into account the reports from the probation officer and the superintendent of prisons as well as the entire incident, which was caused by the accused's frustration due to love failure.