Convict Mohan Singh was sentenced to death in February this year. (File)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended the execution of the death sentence imposed on a man, convicted in a murder case for strangling a woman, cutting her abdomen and removing organs from her body.
“Leave granted. In the meantime, there will be suspension of the execution of the death penalty. Appeal to archives,” said a bench led by Chief Justice SA Bobde, who heard an appeal filed by convict Mohan Singh.
The bench told lead attorney Sidharth Luthra, who was appearing for Singh, that he had not encountered a murder case in which the accused committed the act of cutting off the victim’s abdomen.
“Is he (Singh) some kind of monster or what?” Said the bench, also including judges AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian.
“Your client did the most unpleasant act. Why did he cut open the abdomen and put tissue in the stomach? Is he some kind of surgeon or what?” Observed the bench.
Mr Luthra said Singh worked as a security guard.
The high court was hearing an appeal against the August 7 verdict of the High Court of Rajasthan, which upheld the death sentence passed on Singh by a lower court in the case brought in 2019.
Police say an FIR was filed in May last year after a woman’s body, which was tied with threads, was found in a bag.
During the trial, Singh claimed he had committed no murder and had been falsely involved in the case.
The lower court convicted him and gave him the death penalty in February this year.
In the High Court, the state attorney said Singh had previously been convicted in another murder case.
The High Court, while upholding the verdict of the lower court imposing the death penalty, referred to the victim’s autopsy report that several organs, including the liver, were missing from his body.
The High Court noted in its verdict that the convict cut off the victim’s abdomen, put his clothing in his abdomen and then sewn with a wire.
