Supreme Court verdict will set wrong precedent: Kokilavani kin

Chennai: Vivek, brother of one of the victims Kokilavani, who owns a poultry farm near Namakkal  is a shattered man. “The Supreme Court verdict will set a wrong precedent. This will encourage people to commit murder, set fire to public property when their leaders are arrest on the pretext  that it is  an act of mob frenzy. Those who oppose capital punishment too will demand death penalty for the accused in this case when they see the video footages of the tragedy,” Vivek told DC.

The girl’s father Veerasamy who was operating a bus in the name of his daughter, Kokilavani, appeared extremely dejected. “It is a very sad and shocking decision by the court,” he said.

The counsel in SC had pleaded that death was too harsh a punishment as the convicts had no personal animosity towards their victims and were themselves the victims of mob psychology.

The review petition of the three death row convicts - Nedunchezhian, Ravindran and Muniappan – is being heard after a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ordered limited, open court hearing before a three-judge Bench in case of death penalty reviews.

Senior advocate Sushil Kumar in the defence team had said “in the south, people worship their leaders and on their death even kill themselves”. He said the accused were only “looking for some government property to destroy and were not targeting human lives”.