A tragic story that made judges rethink homicide

TIMES OF INDIA

CHENNAI: Road accidents are but a mere data for government, but how a mishap could ruin people's lives and wreck families is best explained by this tragic story of A Steepen.

Born into a poor family and completed engineering course with great difficulty, Steepen landed a decent job and fell in love with Sangeetha. Fortunately, both the families supported their relationship and they got married soonafter. They were blessed with a child.

A fraction of a moment on October 22, 2008, when Steepen's car dashed against a roadside tree, changed his life upside down, forever.

Rushing back to his office in Chennai after visiting ailing father in Vellore district, Steepen's car hit a roadside tree, killing his young wife on the spot and leaving himself and his five year old son badly injured. Steepen was crippled by serious injuries and could not move around without crutches, and, consequently, lost his job as well. By the time he recovered, all the jewellery and cash kept at his home in Chennai had been cleaned out by his in-laws who demanded more 'refund' of the expenses incurred after Sangeetha's death.

With medical bills and debts mounting and family struggling to meet even basic needs of the child, depression set in. Less than a year after the accident - on July 8, 2009, to be precise - Steepen gave 'some unidentified poison' to his son and he himself attempted suicide by hanging. The child died, whereas Steepen survived, only to face murder charge. He was convicted for murder, and sentenced to undergo imprisonment for life in June 2010.

It was when the criminal appeal against his conviction was taken up for hearing by a bench of Justice M Jaichandren and Justice S Nagamuthu, that all these details tumbled out. His counsel and chairman of Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry D Selvam narrated the tragic sequence of events, and pointed out that Steepen was under immense stress and depression and hence he did not deserve life imprisonment.

To test his claim, the bench summoned two psychiatrists - Dr Ranjani and Dr Mythili - who treated Steepen to the court and re-examined their earlier statements. Their reply was that Steepen suffered from a major depressive disorder, and said they had even warned hospital staff to keep a close vigil on the patient as there was every likelihood that he might attempt to commit suicide due to the illness.

Convinced that the circumstances were peculiar and Steepen had a grave mood disorder during commission of the crime, the judges said: "It is not every homicide which is made punishable under IPC. It is only culpable homicide which is punishable...Fundamentally what is required is that the accused should have had the intention or knowledge which are traceable to the cognitive faculty of the accused. A person, who is of unsound mind, who does not know the consequences of the act that he does, cannot be attributed with either intention or knowledge as required under Section 299 IPC."

So saying, the bench set aside Steepen's conviction and ordered his immediate release.