Court of Appeal commutes death sentence on lovers for murder to 30 years imprisonment

PUTRAJAYA - The Court of Appeal today commuted the death sentence imposed on a pair of lovers for the murder of a five-year-old boy, who is the son of the female accused nine years ago, to 30 years in prison.

A panel of three judges consisting of Datuk Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and Datuk S.M.Komathy Suppiah ordered R. Saravanan Kumar, 33, and T. Gayathry, 39, to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest.

"The appeal against the conviction is dismissed. The death sentence imposed by the Georgetown High Court against the two accused is set aside and commuted with 30-year imprisonment starting from the date of their arrest," said Judge Vazeer Alam who also ordered Saravanan to be given 12 strokes of the cane.

Saravanan was arrested on Sept 27, 2014, while Gayathry was arrested two days later.

Earlier, lawyer M. Visvanathan, representing Gayathry, told the court that the Attorney General's Chambers Office had accepted his client’s representation.

The matter was confirmed by Deputy Public Prosecutor Fuad Aziz. At the proceeding today, Saravanan was represented by lawyer N. Selvarani.

On Sept 29, 2020, the Georgetown High Court sentenced the pair of lovers to death after finding them guilty of murdering S. Kaviarasan.

They were charged with committing the offence at Taman Keladi in Kulim, Kedah between 8 am on Sept 20 and 4 pm on Sept 27, 2014.

Kaviarasan’s body was later found dumped in the bushes of an oil palm estate near Permatang Tinggi, Bukit Tengah, Butterworth on Sept 29, 2014. - BERNAMA