R. Govindasamy (58), who murdered a family of five and was undergoing life imprisonment in the Coimbatore Central Prison, died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday.
On a mercy petition his death sentence was commuted to rigorous life imprisonment till death in 2009.
Govindasamy of Sathyamangalam in Erode district murdered five members of his uncle’s family, on May 29, 1984. over a property dispute.
A trial court in Erode District acquitted him in 1985. The State Government made an appeal in the Madras High Court which awarded him death sentence on September 2, 1997.
He was jailed in the Chennai Prison, shifted to the Vellore Central Prison and then to the Coimbatore Central Prison the same year.
His appeal against the death sentence before the Supreme Court went in vain as the sentence was upheld on April 22, 1998.
The Government of Tamil Nadu rejected his mercy petition on September 16, 1999.
So did the President’s office in October that year.
The day for hanging him was fixed as November 9, 1999.
From then on till 2009 he managed to escape the noose through repeated appeals before the Madras High Court and Supreme Court.
On August 4, 2000, the execution was suspended till a final decision was to be taken.
On New Year’s Eve in 2009 his second appeal to the President yielded results, as his death sentence was commuted. However, he had to undergo rigorous life imprisonment till death.
He then started working at the book bonding unit in the prison, where he worked till Tuesday.
In all he was in the prison here for nearly 19 years.
“He was in sound health and met his son on Tuesday,” Prison Superintendent D. Pazhani told The Hindu . “Around 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday he complained of chest pain and was taken to the prison hospital.
Realising his blood pressure was very high he was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead,” the prison superintendent added. Govindasamy was survived by his wife Eswari, a son and a daughter.
On a mercy petition his death sentence was commuted to rigorous life imprisonment till death in 2009.
Govindasamy of Sathyamangalam in Erode district murdered five members of his uncle’s family, on May 29, 1984. over a property dispute.
A trial court in Erode District acquitted him in 1985. The State Government made an appeal in the Madras High Court which awarded him death sentence on September 2, 1997.
He was jailed in the Chennai Prison, shifted to the Vellore Central Prison and then to the Coimbatore Central Prison the same year.
His appeal against the death sentence before the Supreme Court went in vain as the sentence was upheld on April 22, 1998.
The Government of Tamil Nadu rejected his mercy petition on September 16, 1999.
So did the President’s office in October that year.
The day for hanging him was fixed as November 9, 1999.
From then on till 2009 he managed to escape the noose through repeated appeals before the Madras High Court and Supreme Court.
On August 4, 2000, the execution was suspended till a final decision was to be taken.
On New Year’s Eve in 2009 his second appeal to the President yielded results, as his death sentence was commuted. However, he had to undergo rigorous life imprisonment till death.
He then started working at the book bonding unit in the prison, where he worked till Tuesday.
In all he was in the prison here for nearly 19 years.
“He was in sound health and met his son on Tuesday,” Prison Superintendent D. Pazhani told The Hindu . “Around 4.30 a.m. on Wednesday he complained of chest pain and was taken to the prison hospital.
Realising his blood pressure was very high he was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital where he was declared dead,” the prison superintendent added. Govindasamy was survived by his wife Eswari, a son and a daughter.