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SC cuts death sentence to life for DU law student Mattoo's killer

The Supreme Court reduced the Delhi High Court’s death sentence handed down to law student Priyadarshini Mattoo’s rape and murder convict Santosh Kumar to life imprisonment in today’s ruling in the 14-year old trial.

The apex court bench consisting of justices H S Bedi and C K Prasad upheld the conviction of Kumar but delivered a lesser punishment in a judgement it had reserved in July this year after Kumar has gone in appeal against the 2006 decision of the Delhi High Court.

Papers reported that bench held: “To our mind, certain things are in favour of appellant (Singh). We are converting the punishment of death sentence into the life imprisonment."

The Delhi High Court had held Kumar guilty of rape and murder of his classmate Mattoo in October 2006 and granted him capital punishment after his acquittal by the trial court in 1999.

An advocate and son of a former IPS officer Kumar had raped and killed the final year law student Mattoo in January 1996.

The Times of India has a chronology of events in the case.

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