Reji Kumar Alias Reji vs. State Of Kerala

2025 INSC 538
NON-REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION


CRIMINAL APPEAL NOS.1179-1180 OF 2023


REJI KUMAR ALIAS REJI … APPELLANT

Versus

STATE OF KERALA … RESPONDENT



J U D G M E N T



SANJAY KAROL, J.


1. This case is the second one of its nature that has become
ripe for judgment in a short while wherein a husband and father
has allegedly forgotten all propriety, morality and responsibility
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
RAJNI MUKHI toward his family members. The prosecution contends that Reji
Date: 2025.04.22
17:13:35 IST
Reason:
Crl.A.Nos.1179-80/2023 Page 1 of 17


Kumar – appellant herein had, over a period of few days killed
st
his wife Lissy and four children, namely, 1 daughter (12 years
nd rd
old), son (10 years old), 2 daughter (9 years old) and 3
daughter (3 years old). We are left to wonder as to how someone
who is supposed to feel the utmost love, care and affection for
the young lives could have come to committing such a crime -
where the lights of these lives have been extinguished in the most
brutal of manners.
2. These appeals are directed against the final judgment and
th
order dated 12 November, 2014 in Death Reference No.1/2010
and Criminal Appeal No.1663 of 2010 passed by the High Court
of Kerala at Ernakulam. The former travelled up to the High
Court by way of statutory requirement and the latter was
preferred by the appellant against the conviction and sentence
recorded against him by the Sessions Court, Palakkad in
S.C.No.114 of 2009, under Sections 302, 376, 297 and 201 of the
1
Indian Penal Code, 1860 .

Brief Facts

3. The facts, as set out by the Courts below giving rise to the
present appeals, are :

1
Hereinafter ‘IPC’
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3.1 The appellant-convict was employed in the fields of
one Aboobacker Sidique (PW-1) as an agricultural worker
at a monthly salary of Rs.7,000/- and used to live in rented
accommodation, in the ownership of Rasheed PW-6. In the
course of such employment, he developed intimate relations
th
with Baby alias Usha PW-24. Lissy went missing on 9
th rd
July, 2008. On 11 July 2008 he took his son and 3
daughter saying that he would return with his wife and
children. Thereafter, the neighbours made repeated
inquiries but were always met with evasive answers.
th
3.2 On 20 July 2008, he informed PW-1 that he was
headed to Kottayam and would return on the same day with
st nd
his family. On 21 and 22 July 2008, Safina PW-2, wife
of PW-1 noted that the house was locked from the outside,
but the next day she found it locked from inside. When, on
knocking she got no answer, she informed her husband and
they together investigated the house. Finally, three people
secured entry - PW-1, his brother Biju PW-4 and PW-6 and
st nd
found 1 daughter and 2 daughter lying prone, dead. The
police were informed, and accordingly, FIR No.456/08
rd
dated 23 July, 2008 came to be registered at PS Pattambi,
District Palakkad.
th
3.3 Also on 25 July 2008, the bodies of Lissy, the son
rd
and 3 daughter were discovered in the septic tank and the
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nearby fields respectively, after people were alerted by a
foul smell emanating from the former location. The
requisite documentation regarding recovery of all the
deceased persons was prepared.
th
3.4 The appellant convict was taken into custody on 27
July, 2008.
3.5 The final report was submitted under Section 302,
st
376, 297 and 201 IPC before the Judicial 1 Class
rd
Magistrate, Pattambi on 23 October, 2008, from where it
was committed to the Court of Sessions. The appellant
convict was defended by legal aid counsel.

Trial Court


4. The convict appellant pleaded not guilty. To prove its
case, the prosecution examined 44 witnesses marked 72 exhibits
and identified 36 material objects. The Court framed six issues
for consideration :

st
“1. Whether the accused has caused the death of Lissy, 1
nd rd
daughter, 2 daughter, son and 3 daughter?

st
2. Whether the accused committed rape or his daughter 1
daughter?

3. Whether the accused has caused disappearance of
evidence bas alleged by the prosecution?

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4. Whether the accused has shown disrespect to the dead
body so as to attract an offence under Section 297 IPC?

5. What are the offences if any committed by the accused?

6. What is the sentence to be imposed?”

5. In paragraph 22, the Court takes notice of the
circumstances sought to be proven by the prosecution against the
appellant-convict, which read as follows :

“a. The motive for committing the crime;
b. The fact that the accused and deceased were last seen
together by some of the prosecution witnesses;
c. Conduct of the accused and the falsity of the explanation
given by him;
d. Recovery of certain material objects; and
e. Medical and scientific evidence”

After detailed consideration of the evidence under the
heads as above, it was concluded by the Trial Court that the
convict-appellant had indeed committed the murders of his wife
and four children. It was also concluded that he had deliberately
concealed the bodies of the deceased persons and caused
disappearance of evidence of such acts in order to escape from
punishment. As such, he was convicted for having committed
offences punishable under the Sections noted in paragraph 2. On
the charge under 297 IPC it was held that the evidence as
produced by the prosecution was insufficient to sustain the same.
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He was, therefore, acquitted of said charge. On the aspect of
sentence, the Court considered the following factors in awarding
capital punishment :
a) The nature of the crime being extremely brutal,
diabolical and revolting;
b) The appellant-convict had a responsibility to nurture
and protect, instead he became the destructor and killed
helpless children;
c) He betrayed the trust of his wife. It is not as if he is an
uneducated man. He holds a degree in chemistry and
a graduate diploma in computer applications;
d) The manner of commission of the crime was well
arranged and planned. The defence counsel’s
argument that the offence was out of unhappiness and
frustration, and not criminal tendency, was rejected.

Placing reliance on Siriya alias Shri Lal v. State of
2
Madhya Pradesh , the appellant-convict was sentenced to death.
For the offence under Section 376 IPC he was sentenced to 10
years’ rigorous imprisonment and for the offence under Section
201 IPC he was sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of 7 years.
Both these offence also carried a fine of Rs.1,000/-, in default

2
(2008) 8 SCC 22
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whereof one month's simple imprisonment was also to be
undergone. They were all to run concurrently.

High Court

6. Vide the impugned judgment, the High Court after
reviewing the evidence and addressing the arguments of the
counsel, it was held that the argument of the appellant-convict
that the case of the prosecution is feeble and the findings of guilt
cannot be sustained, is not liable to be accepted. The finding of
guilt is justified on the basis of the material placed on record.
After considering various judgments of this Court, it was
observed :

“59. Here, the evidence is conclusive enough to hold
that the appellant had no repentance at all. After
st nd
finishing off 1 daughter and 2 daughter the appellant
left the place and after reaching Kottayam he
telephonically expressed his desire to join PW24. The
evidence would indicate that the intention of the
appellant was to live with PW24 after annihilating his
family. This is a strong indication which compels us to
hold that the alternative option of rehabilitation is
unquestionably foreclosed.

60. The appellant was educated and it has come out in
evidence that during some time he had worked as an
advocate’s clerk. The socio economic background of the
appellant not at all justifies any of this actions.
Therefore, such a mitigating factor is absent in the
present case. We have come to this conclusion after
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approaching the question of sentence from a broad
sociological point of view.
x x x

63. Here the facts of this case would reveal that the
appellant planned the murder of his wife and four
children and executed the same in succession, during a
period of two weeks, which would indicate that it was a
pre-calculated cold blooded murder.

x x x

68. Viewed in that profile, we are of the definite and
considered view that the crime committed by the
appellant in this case satisfies the crime test fully
whereas, it does not satisfy the criminal test at all. The
nature of the offences and the manner in which offences
have been committed to not help the tilting of balance in
favour of the appellant. While carrying out this complex
exercise, we cannot forget our obligation to see the
impact of the offence on the society as a whole and its
profound ramifications. Therefore, we are of the view
that the sentence imposed by the trial court on the
appellant does not call for an interference and the
imposition of a the lesser alternative is unquestionably
foreclosed for the reasons stated above.

In the result, we uphold the findings of guilt and
conviction of the appellant under Sections 302, 376 and
201 of the Indian Penal Code and confirm the death
sentence imposed upon the appellant by the trial court
under Section 302 IPC in exercise of the powers
conferred on this Court under Section 368 read with
Section 366(1) Cr.P.C., as there is absolutely nothing to
interfere with the order of sentence.

The Death Reference is answered accordingly.

We also confirm the sentence imposed upon the
appellant under Section 376 and 201 IPC.”

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7. It is in this background that the confirmation of death
sentence, in a statutory appeal as also the convict-appellant’s
appeal against judgment and sentence, is before us.
8. We have heard Ms. Sonia Mathur and Mr. P.V. Dinesh,
learned Senior Counsel appearing for the respective parties.
9. Consideration of the evidence by the Trial Court has taken
place under the heads of motive, the circumstance of last seen,
conduct of the accused, recovery of material objects and medical,
scientific evidence. We shall adopt the same method. The
following is a tabular encapsulation of the witnesses relied on by
the Trial Court and independently re-examined by the High Court
in order to establish the guilt of the convict-appellant -

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10. PW-1 testifies that he had no direct knowledge of
conversations between PW-24 and the convict-appellant. PW-
13, namely, Krishnankutty, has testified that he and PW-24 were
very close and the factum of their closeness was told to him by
the convict-appellant himself stating that he wished to marry her.
PW-24, namely, Ushadevi @ Baby said that she and the convict-
appellant would speak on the phone 10-15 times a day. She has
testified that sexual relations took place between them on the
th
night of 8 July 2007, i.e., the day that he had allegedly killed
Lissy. The convict-appellant had apparently told her that there
had been no conjugal relations between him and the deceased
Lissy for the last five years and that the youngest child, namely,
rd
3 daughter, was not fathered by him. PW-26, namely, Sheela
Sara Abraham, nodal officer of Tata Teleservices Ltd. testified
that there had been numerous calls from the number
‘9288173334’ to ‘9388920657’ and later to ‘9961625774’, both
numbers belonging to the convict-appellant as testified by PW-
24. She further stated that there was another number which
ended in the numbers ‘812’ and that they would often call each
other using said number. Ex.27 are the call details between the
numbers ‘9747017812’ and ‘9961625774’. A cumulative
consideration of the above testimonies does point to the presence
of sufficient motive. He suspected infidelity on the part of the
deceased Lissy and that she had borne a child out of wedlock,
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along with the fact that there was no physical relation between
them.
11. Now we consider the evidence in respect of the last seen
th
theory. PW-1 testified that on 8 July 2008 he had seen Lissy
walking along with the convict-appellant to their house. When he
th
saw the convict-appellant working in the field on 13 July 2008
he enquired regarding Lissy and their two children to which the
reply was that they were away visiting her maternal uncle and
th
would be back on 17 July 2008. When they did not return on the
said date, he said that one of the children was being admitted to
th
a convent at Pala for studies and he would go there on 20 and
return with his wife on the same day. Yet he did not return.
PW-1 stated to have been present at the time of recovery of the
th
bodies as well. PW-2 states that she saw Lissy on 8 July 2008,
rd th
her son and 3 daughter on 11 July 2008, i.e., the day after they
had taken these two children along with themselves to attend a
th nd
wedding on 10 July 2008. The other two children, 2 daughter
st
and 1 daughter were last seen when they were at home in the
summer vacations. She further testified that around this time,
when she had enquired from the convict-appellant regarding
Lissy, she was also told the same story as PW-1. PW-7 namely
Suhara, a neighbour of PW-1, stated that she had seen the convict
appellant getting down from an autorickshaw with his children -
rd th
son and 3 daughter and entering the house on 12 July 2008.
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This has been taken as clinching evidence by the Courts below.
PW-9, namely, Sajan Antony, the Headmaster of St. Joseph’s
nd
UPS, Vellilappally, has testified that on 22 July 2008 the
st
convict-appellant came to the school desiring to take away 1
nd
daughter and 2 daughter, on the pretext that his mother had
passed away, to which he had no objection but said that requisite
permission should be taken from the concerned authority of the
children’s home where they resided. Connected with the above is
the convict-appellant’s travel to Kottayam and stay at Bino
th st
Lodge from 20 July 2008 to 21 July 2008, which fact is
testified to PW-17 and PW-18.
12. In regard to the conduct of the convict-appellant, the
Courts below have taken note of the following factors :
(a) Repeatedly giving false statements regarding the
st nd
whereabouts of Lissy, 1 daughter and 2 daughter when
enquiries were made about them by PW-1 & PW-2.
(b) Not turning up or making himself available even
after the incident had been reported widely across all forms
of media.
(c) Travel to Kottayam immediately after the death of
rd
his son and 3 daughter, as also making of the phone calls
to PW-24 on the same day expressing desire to meet her.
By such time the news regarding the death of two of his
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children had spread and when she informed him of the same,
his response was allegedly cool.
All of these factors, pointed to suspicious conduct on the
part of the convict-appellant. We agree with such a conclusion.
It is inconceivable to us as to how a person can have a calm
response, brushing off allegations levied against him of having
killed his own children, especially, when the same is being
informed to him by a person who possesses intense feelings for
and because of which she refuses to meet him. That apart, there
is also another important aspect, i.e., the gaps in the deaths of the
th
five persons. Lissy went missing on 8 July 2008, two of the
th
children were last seen on 12 July 2008 and the other two were
collected all the way from another city and then killed. It is also
to be noted that the reason why he wanted to take away the two
children studying in a boarding school was that his mother,
Sarojini Amma, had died. This was plainly a lie. In fact, she has
testified as PW-25. This suggests to us a clear plan in the mind
of the convict-appellant to end the lives of all members of his
immediate family. Such conduct is certainly reeking of guilt.
13. The prosecution has used scientific and medical evidence
st
to establish the factum of rape being committed on 1 daughter
by the convict-appellant. PW-31 - Dr. P.C. Ignatius, who was at
the relevant time Associate Professor and Deputy Police Surgeon
in the Medical College Hospital, Trissur, testified that the cause
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st
of death of 1 daughter was throttling. He reported the detection
of semen and spermatozoa due to the possibility of sexual assault.
st
He also noted that there were old tears in the hymen of 1
daughter, indicating prior sexual assault. Ex. P72 ( appended at
page 564 of convenience compilation ), which is the DNA Report
prepared by the Senior technical examiner, shows that semen
collected from the convict-appellant matches the biological fluid
st
present in the vaginal swab of 1 daughter. There can be no
denying the same. It has also been observed by the learned Trial
Court that there was no gap in the collection of samples, then
being taken to the lab and the report thereof being prepared.
Hence, we see no reason to take a different view on this count.
14. With the above discussion, the primary charges of
Sections 302 (four counts) & 376 (one count) IPC, stand proved.
We affirm the findings of the Courts below. The conviction of
the convict-appellant, therefore, remains undisturbed. We shall
now proceed to the aspect of sentence.
15. The Courts below, upon consideration of a sum total of
circumstances, found the instant case to be fitting into the rarest
of rare doctrine as discussed in Bachan Singh v. State of
3
Punjab . The question before us now is whether such
determination was correct and/or justified. In order to examine
the same, we must look into the aggravating and mitigating

3
(1980) 2 SCC 684
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circumstances of the present case. Prior to doing so, we may
elude the findings made in the Probation Officer’s report,
mitigating investigator’s report and the report of psychological
assessment submitted to this Court in compliance of the
4
principles laid down in Manoj v. State of Madhya Pradesh . The
following factors can be cumulatively noticed from the above
reports:
(a) Unblemished conduct in prison - the jail authorities
appeared to have trust in him and he has repeatedly been
given positions which require discipline, responsibility and
reliability;
(b) Severe mental distress - He has exhibited certain
behaviours that are means of coping with overwhelming
distress originating in the past from issues, such as neglect
parental mental illness and substance dependence, unstable
home environment, physical and sexual abuse, all of these
factors have been amplified by the uncertainty of being on
death row;
(c) Renewed sense of purpose - He has used the money
earned to donate to different causes, such as towards the bail
amount of co-prisoners, totaling Rs.83,000/-. He is also
stated to have hopes to spend time in social service in the
future. His issues with anger seem to have abated.

4
(2023) 2 SCC 353
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(d) No criminal antecedents prior to the said acts and no
violent acts perpetrated in jail.
16. The aggravating circumstances have already been
discussed in the preceding paragraphs, but are once again pointed
out here:
(a) Brutality of the crime;

(b) Pre-determined intention to kill all family members;
(c) No remorse even after having killed one person since
there was adequate time between the killings of Lissy,
th
which is presumed to be on 8 July 2008 when she
disappeared, and of two of the children few days later
and the two other children almost ten days thereafter;
(d) Sexual assault on his own daughter;
(e) Multiple persons killed.

17. Keeping in view the discussion made in Ramesh A. Naika
5
v. Registrar General, High Court of Karnataka Etc. and
considering the facts that the convict-appellant had no prior
antecedents; good conduct for the past 16-17 years of
incarceration; difficulties in mental health and consistent efforts
at being a model prisoner, we find that the imposition of death
penalty would be unjustified. He is, therefore, removed from
death row. However, considering the severity of the crime, the

5
2025 SCC OnLine SC 575
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number of persons killed, that out of five four were his own
children, we are of the view that he does not deserve to be set free
and direct that he shall spend the remainder of his days in jail, till
his last breath, hoping to do acts of penance to atone for the
crimes he has committed and particularly for the fact that he
extinguished four bright flames.

18. The appeals are partly allowed accordingly. The death
sentence is commuted to life imprisonment till the end of natural
life. The appeal filed by the convict-appellant is partly allowed.
Pending application(s), if any, shall stand disposed of.


……...…...…………J.
(VIKRAM NATH)


……...………………J.
(SANJAY KAROL)



………………………J.
(SANDEEP MEHTA)
New Delhi;
nd
22 April, 2025.
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