A paranoid schizophrenic man, who had murdered five persons and was sentenced to death by a trial court, was on Thursday spared the noose by the Madras HC (Madurai Bench) and referred to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) at Kilpauk for treatment.
The convict, R Maruthu alias Maruthupandian of Melachivapuri village in Pudukottai district, had married Vijayabhama of Pattukottai and settled in Tirupur district. Later, the couple got separated. Maruthu then returned to his native village where he got addicted to drugs and also became mentally ill.
Unable to put up with his sudden bouts of hysterical behaviour, the villagers would forcibly board him on a bus bound for Tirupur, but Maruthu would disembark after a while and return to the village. On June 19, 2009, when the villagers tried to get him on board a bus, he became wild and randomly attacked the villagers with a wooden log leading to the death of five persons, including two women.
Police arrested him and chargesheeted him for murdering the five persons. On learning that he was suffering from mental illness, he was referred to a hospital for psychiatric opinion.
However, on January 23 last year the Mahila Court sentenced him to death.Challenging this, a petition was filed on his behalf before a HC bench. During the arguments it was pointed out that Maruthu was earlier admitted in the Psychiatry ward of Thanjavur Medical College Hospital and also the IMH. Doctors had diagnosed him as Paranoid Schizophrenic. But the trial judge had refused to take the medical evidence on record. Petitioner’s counsel pointed out that since the convict was of unstable mind falling within the provisions of the Sec 84 of IPC, his conviction must be set aside.
Subsequently, the bench constituted an expert committee to examine the petitioner and submit a report. The doctors confirmed that Maruthu was a Paranoid Schizophrenic but was fit to stand trial.
However, the bench ruled that “Even though the accused and stand trial, the medical team has opined that he is not fully cured. Paranoid Schizophrenia is an illness that lasts for life and requires treatment on permanent basis.”
Hence the conviction of the petitioner was set aside.