SC upholds death penalty in Coimbatore rape-murder case

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by a death row convict seeking review of its verdict affirming capital punishment imposed on him for “horribly” gangraping a minor girl and later killing her along with her brother in Coimbatore in 2010.

In a majority judgment of 2:1, a bench headed by Justice R F Nariman, said there are no grounds to review their verdict upholding the death penalty of convict Manoharan.

While Justices Nariman and Suryakant dismissed the review plea, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who was also part of the three-judge bench, said he has a different view on the point of the sentence only. “In view of the majority judgement, the review petition stands dismissed in its entirety,” the bench said.