CHENNAI: A 31-year-old man, charged in 2021 with murdering his mother in a fit of rage, was instead convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder by a sessions court in Chennai on February 20. Sentencing the accused to 10 years of RI, the court said the man, R Moorthy, did not premeditate the crime and that it was done in the heat of the moment.
On September 19, 2021, an inebriated Moorthy stabbed his mother, R Lakshmi for not serving him dinner. The crime occurred in front of his sister Selvi and their father, Ramalingam. Moorthy often used to verbally abuse his mother and sister, demanding money for alcohol. One of Ramalingam’s friends also spotted Moorthy fleeing the spot with the blood-stained knife.
Despite four prosecution witnesses, including Selvi, turning hostile during trial, the court accepted the prosecution’s case based on the “last-seen theory” given that Ramanlingam’s friend had spotted Moorthy. When deciding if Moorthy should be convicted for murder, the court said that he had not premeditated the crime, given that he had not carried the knife when he reached home.
Only a single stab injury on Lakshmi’s body also substantiated this. The court referred to section 300 of the IPC, which defines the circumstances that a culpable homicide is considered murder. As the case fell under exception 4 of section 300, it was deemed culpable homicide, the court said. The court convicted him under section 304 (II) of the IPC instead of section 302.