THE Court of Appeal today commuted the death sentence imposed on a pair of lovers for the murder of a five-year-old boy who is the son of the female accused, nine years ago, to 30 years in prison.

A panel of three judges consisting of Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera, Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim and S.M. Komathy Suppiah ordered R. Saravanan Kumar, 33, and T. Gayathry, 39, to serve the jail sentence from the date of their arrest.

“The appeal against the conviction is dismissed. The death sentence imposed by the Georgetown High Court against the two accused is set aside and commuted with 30 years’ imprisonment starting from the date of their arrest,” said Vazeer Alam, who also ordered Saravanan to be given 12 strokes of the cane.

Saravanan was arrested on September 27, 2014 and Gayathry, two days later.

Earlier, lawyer M. Visvanathan, representing Gayathry,  told the court that the Attorney-General’s Chambers had accepted his client’s representation.

The matter was confirmed by deputy public prosecutor Fuad Aziz.

Saravanan was represented by lawyer N. Selvarani.

On September 29, 2020, the Georgetown High Court sentenced the two to death after finding them guilty of murdering S. Kaviarasan.

They were charged with committing the offence at Taman Keladi in Kulim, Kedah between 8am on September 20 and 4pm on September 27, 2014.

Kaviarasan’s body was later found dumped in the bushes of an oil palm estate near Permatang Tinggi, Bukit Tengah, Butterworth on September 29, 2014. – Bernama, October 5, 2023.