New Delhi, Apr 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Tuesday commuted the death sentence of a man convicted for the brutal murder of his wife and four children and raping his 12-year-old daughter before killing her to live with his lover in 2008.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath, Sanjay Karol and Sandeep Mehta upheld the conviction of Reji Kumar alias Reji but commuted his death sentence to imprisonment till his last breath owing to his good conduct in 16-17 years of incarceration.

“Keeping in view the discussion made in Ramesh A Naika v. Registrar General, High Court of Karnataka (a 2025 verdict) 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,” the bench said in its verdict.

It further said, “He is, therefore, removed from death row. However, considering the severity of the crime, the 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.” The bench partly allowed the appeal and modified the death sentence awarded to the convict by the Kerala High Court and the trial court to imprisonment till the end of his natural life.

The top court took into consideration the reports of the probation officer and the mitigating investigator, besides a report on the convict’s psychological assessment.

It noted that Reji had an unblemished conduct in prison — the jail authorities appeared to have trust in him and he was repeatedly given positions that require discipline, responsibility and reliability.

It said the reports suggest that he has severe mental distress and exhibited certain behaviours that are means of coping with overwhelming distress originating in the past from issues, such as parental neglect, mental illness, substance dependence, unstable home environment, physical and sexual abuse, and all of these factors have been amplified by the uncertainty of being on death row.

The bench said he has a renewed sense of purpose now as he has used the money earned in prison to donate to different causes, such as towards the bail amount of co-prisoners, totalling Rs 83,000 and his issues with anger seem to have abated.

The top court also considered aggravated circumstances like the brutality of the crime, the pre-determined intention to kill all family members, no remorse even after having killed one person since there was adequate time between the killings of his wife, which was presumably on July 8, 2008 when she disappeared, two of the children a few days later and the two other children almost 10 days thereafter and the sexual assault on his daughter.

Agreeing with the findings of the conviction recorded by the high court and the trial court, the bench said all the factors point to suspicious conduct on the part of the convict.

“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,” it said.

At the outset, Justice Karol, who penned the verdict on behalf of the bench, said this is a case wherein a husband and father had allegedly forgotten all propriety, morality and responsibility towards his family members.

“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,” the bench said.

The lover, the mother of a 13-year-old, parted ways with Reji when the killings came to light and her statement stood against him during the trial. A 2011 Malayalam film is also said to be loosely based on these killings.

Reji was employed by Aboobacker Siddique, a cable network operator, as an agricultural worker at his rubber plantation at Amayur, Palakkad.

He was living in a rented house at Amayur with his wife, Lissy, and two of his younger children. His two daughters, one aged 12 and the other aged nine, were studying in a private school at Ramapuram in Pala and staying in a hostel.

Reji had a physical relationship with a woman, whom he met while working at the plantation.

The prosecution case was that Reji strangled Lissy to death on July 8, 2008, while he killed two children on July 13.

He then brought his two daughters home on the pretext of their mother’s death and raped the eldest one, before strangling her to death on July 23. He killed the other daughter too on the same day.

The bodies of the two girls were found inside the house on the same day, while Lissy’s body was found in the septic tank on July 25. The bodies of the two other children were found buried in an adjacent property. PTI MNL RC