Chaman Lal Mattoo, father of Priyadarshini Mattoo, watches the TV news relating to his daughter’s case in Jammu on Wednesday. (PTI)

New Delhi, Oct. 6: The Supreme Court today commuted the death sentence awarded to Santosh Kumar Singh, who stalked, raped and murdered fellow law student Priyadarshini Mattoo in 1996, to life imprisonment on the ground that he was “young” at that time and there was nothing to show he could not be “reformed”.

The court recorded the fact that at the time of the crime, he was only 24 years old, and that he had since married and had a daughter.

Undoubtedly, he “would have had time for reflection over the events of the last 15 years, and to ponder over the predicament that he now faces, the reality that his father died a year after his conviction and the prospect of a dismal future for his young family”, a two-judge bench said.

“There is nothing to suggest that he would not be capable of reform… to our mind, the balance sheet tilts marginally in favour of the appellant, and the ends of justice would be met if the sentence awarded to him is commuted from death to life imprisonment,” Justices H.S. Bedi and C.K. Prasad said.

Singh, the son of an IPS officer, stalked Mattoo and murdered her despite the police security extended to her after her repeated complaints.

Priyadarshini was residing with her parents at B-10/7098, Vasant Kunj, and was a student of the LLB course at the University of Delhi Campus Law Centre, and had at the time completed the fifth semester and was in the final sixth semester.

Her body had 19 injuries. Three of her rib cage bones were also smashed. These were attributed to Singh’s attempts to bludgeon her to submission prior to rape.

Told about the verdict in Tihar Jail, Singh today said he was “relieved”, reports PTI. “I am feeling relieved. I am happy and satisfied with the court’s judgment,” jail officials who informed him about the ruling quoted him as saying.

The Mattoo family’s lawyer termed the verdict a “setback” and declared he would file a review or curative petition seeking enhancement of the punishment after examining the full judgment. “He (Singh) was not an ordinary criminal and therefore, it (case) was the rarest of the rare category.”

Priyadarshini’s father Chaman Lal Mattoo said: “The case has not met the right treatment by the apex court.”

“There are various instances where the convicts have managed to come out. This is the danger,” he added.

Singh was acquitted by the trial court which had created a stir by saying it believed he was guilty but slammed the police for not turning up with the evidence necessary to nail him.

The subsequent public outcry over allegations of tampering of evidence and police bias forced the high court to hand over the case to the CBI for investigation. The high court later overturned the trial court verdict and awarded him a death sentence.

The Supreme Court today upheld the conviction but also took note of the “mitigating factors” such as his young age when he was led “astray” and the fact that he was married and had a daughter.

“There are extremely aggravating circumstances as well. In particular, we notice the tendency of parents to be over-indulgent to their progeny, often resulting in the most horrendous of situations,” the judges said.

“These situations are exacerbated when an accused belongs to a category with unlimited power or pelf or, even more dangerously, a volatile and heady cocktail of the two. The reality that such a class does exist is for all to see and is evidenced by regular and alarming incidents such as the present one.”