The verdict came as shock for the victim's family which dubbed it as "heart breaking" and expressed anguish over the "failure" of the state prosecutor to "properly" present the case in apex court.
In the 22-page verdict, the apex court discharged Govindachamy under section 302 (murder) of IPC, in which the maximum sentence is capital punishment, saying there was no intention on his part to kill the victim but only to sexually assault her by keeping her in a supine position.
While dropping section 302 of IPC, a bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi, P C Pant and U U Lalit held him guilty for the offence of causing grievous hurt under section 325 of the IPC and awarded seven years rigorous imprisonment which will run concurrently with the life sentence awarded to him.
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In its verdict, the apex court said "the fact that the deceased survived for a couple of days after the incident and eventually died in hospital would also clearly militate against any intention of accused (Govindachamy) to cause death by the act of keeping the deceased in a supine position."
"Rather, we are of the view that the acts of assault etc attributable to the accused would more appropriately attract the offence under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of IPC. We accordingly find the accused guilty of the said offence and sentence him to undergo rigorous imprisonment for seven years for commission of the same," it said.
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