Madras High Court sets aside life term of mentally ill woman

Chennai: Coming to the rescue of a mentally-ill woman who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2012 for killing her three children by throwing them in a well, the Madras high court on Saturday set aside the lower court verdict, after considering the government doctor’s report.

A Division Bench comprising Justices M. Jaichandren and S. Nagamuthu gave relief to Jayalakshmi on her appeal against the lower court order, after considering the medical report of Meenakshi stating that she was suffering from "Psychomotor Activity Retardation" (slowing down of thought processes and physical activity, a serious mental illness).

Rejecting the arguments of the Additional public prosecutor that the
disease could not have made the woman incapable of knowing what she was doing was wrong, it said, “We find no force in the said argument for the simple reason that the medical records coupled with the evidence of the doctor would go to establish that the accused was incapable of knowing the nature of her act on account of the unsoundness of her mind.”