In a chilling case of matricide, the Supreme Court recently stayed the death sentence of Sunil Rama Kuchkoravi, who was convicted for the brutal murder of his mother, Yallava Kuchkoravi, in 2017. The Kolhapur man was sentenced to death after being found guilty of eviscerating his 60-year-old mother’s body and attempting to cook parts of it with salt and chilli powder.
The Supreme Court, on December 11, issued a notice on Kuchkoravi’s appeal against the Bombay High Court’s confirmation of the death penalty. A three-judge bench, consisting of Justices Surya Kant, Pankaj Mithal, and Ujjal Bhuyan, stayed the execution, stating that it would remain halted pending the appeal’s outcome. The bench scheduled the next hearing for April 14, 2025, and called for the records of both the trial court and the High Court, along with their translated versions, to be requisitioned.
The case first came to light when a neighbor’s child discovered the gruesome scene at the Kuchkoravi household on August 28, 2017. The eight-year-old found Yallava’s lifeless body in a pool of blood, with Sunil standing nearby, covered in blood.
Earlier, the Bombay High Court had upheld the death sentence imposed by the Kolhapur sessions court in 2021, highlighting the horrific nature of the crime. The court stated that Sunil’s actions “came close to cannibalism,” explaining that he may have killed his mother with the intent of consuming her flesh, as he was known to have slaughtered and eaten pigs and cats. The High Court also noted that there was a “strong probability of the convict having a syndrome of pathological cannibalism.”
The court further remarked, “Since he was habituated to slaughtering and eating the flesh of pigs and cats, perhaps he must have killed his mother in a similar manner in order to eat her flesh, which is evident from the record.” It also highlighted the danger of allowing Kuchkoravi to serve a life sentence, considering his tendencies toward cannibalism, noting that he could be a potential threat to other inmates in prison.
The Bombay High Court also acknowledged the profound trauma not only inflicted on the victim but on society as a whole, calling the crime “unimaginably horrific.” The judgment underscored that the frail and elderly Yallava had no means of defending herself against her son’s brutal attack.
Kuchkoravi’s defense had argued that he was insane at the time of the crime, but the High Court rejected this claim, citing a lack of evidence to support the defense of insanity.
As the case now moves forward, the Supreme Court’s stay of execution gives the convicted man a final chance to appeal the death sentence, with the legal proceedings continuing into next year.
