Thrissur, Kerala:
A court in Kerala has awarded the death sentence to a man who raped and murdered a young salesgirl named Soumya, who he found in the women's compartment of a train.
Govindachamy, who is 30, was convicted a few days ago by a fast-track court in Thrissur. Soumya, who worked at a mall in Kochi, was attacked by Govindachamy on the night of February 1. He allegedly pushed her from a moving train and then raped her near the railway track . She was found unconscious a few hours later, with a huge wound on her head near the Vallathol Nagar Railway Station and was moved to hospital but died six days later.
Soumya was on her way home to her village in Thrissur to consider a marriage proposal when Govindachamy entered her compartment and tried to rob her, before shoving her from the train. She had quit her course in hotel management less than three months before she died to help support her family. Her father had left her mother five years ago, and Soumya felt she should shoulder her family's financial responsibilities. (
Read: Soumya, who died after being attacked on a train)