Court awards death to Soumya’s killer

A Fast Track court here on today sentenced the accused in the sensational murder case of Soumya who was pushed out of a moving train, raped and killed in February this year.

Judge Raveendra Babu had found the accused, Govindachamy (30) hailing from Tamil Nadu, guilty of the rape and murder.

Special Prosecutor A Suresan had pleaded for the maximum punishment of death.

According to the prosecution, Govindachamy hailing from Virudhachalam in Tamil Nadu had assaulted 23-year-old Soumya in a deserted ladies' compartment on February 1 this year and pushed her out of the running train, immediately after it left the Vallathol Nagar station. He then carried her to a spot along the rail tracks and raped her 'cruelly and brutally'.

The accused had also injured her seriously resulting in her death on February 6.

Pressing for maximum punishment, the prosecution submitted that the accused was a 'habitual offender' and produced documentary evidence from the Tamil Nadu Crime Bureau of Police that he had been convicted in eight cases in Tamil Nadu from 2004 to 2008.