Death for 7-yr-old’s murder upheld

The Supreme Court Tuesday confirmed the death penalty awarded to a man for killing a seven-year-old boy in Tamil Nadu.

Highlighting several incriminating circumstances, the court pointed out that the convict, Sunder, had killed the only male child of a couple and caused "extreme misery" to them. "The parents of the deceased had four children. Kidnapping the only male child was to induce maximum fear in the mind of his parents," said a Bench led by P Sathasivam.

"Purposefully killing the sole male child has grave repercussions for the parents of the deceased. Agony for parents for the loss of their only male child, who would have carried further the family lineage, and is expected to see them through their old age, is unfathomable. Extreme misery caused to the aggrieved party certainly adds to the aggravating circumstances," said the Bench. It said there was no mitigating circumstances in the convict's favour and the case was of "extreme culpability," justifying the "harshest punishment".

Sunder was convicted of killing Suresh, a class II student, after kidnapping him on July 27, 2009. In August 2010, the High Court upheld a Cuddalore court's order awarding death penalty to Sunder.

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