Delivering its long-awaited judgement in the high-profile Priyadarshini Mattoo rape and murder case, the Supreme Court on Wednesday commuted accused Santosh Singh's death sentence to life imprisonment.
Hearing Singh's petition challenging his conviction and award of capital punishment, the apex court upheld the high court verdict of holding him guilty. However, giving relief to Singh, the SC reduced his sentence. It had earlier reserved the judgement in July this year.
Mattoo, a third-year law student of Delhi University, was found murdered in her Vasant Kunj flat in 1996. It was found that she had been raped and her body bore 14 wounds.
Prior to the incident, the victim had accused her senior and former IPS officer's son, Santosh Singh, of stalking her. He therefore became the main accused in the case.
However, the trial court acquitted Singh giving him benefit of doubt observing that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had botched up the forensic evidence. The judgement led to a public outcry.
Later, in 2006, the Delhi High Court convicted Singh of raping and murdering Mattoo and sentenced him to death. The culprit then moved the Supreme Court appealing against his conviction.
