The Kolhapur cannibal: Man who killed and ate mother's body parts gets death sentence from Bombay HC

There is no chance of reformation of the convict as there are tendencies of cannibalism, the high court observed.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday confirmed the death penalty imposed by a Kolhapur court on a man for killing his mother in 2017 and allegedly eating some of the body parts, noting this was a case of cannibalism.

“This is a rarest of rare case,” observed a division bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Prithviraj Chavan.

The convict, Sunil Kuchkoravi, had murdered his 63-year-old mother Yallama Rama Kuchkoravi on 28 August, 2017, at their residence at Makadwala Vasahat in Kolhapur city. He later chopped the body and ate some organs after frying them in a pan.

After the trial, the Kolhapur Sessions Court convicted and sentenced Sunil Kuchkoravi in 2021.

As of now, he is lodged at the Yerwada prison in Pune from where he attended the confirmation of sentence via video-conferencing facility.

“This is a rarest of rare case, wherein the appellant not only killed his mother but removed her organs like brain, heart etc and was about to cook the same on a stove. This is cannibalism. Thus, we have upheld your death sentence, as awarded to you by the sessions court," Justice Chavan said.

The bench observed that there was no chance of his reformation. “…this was a case of cannibalism and it falls under the rarest of rare category,” the court said, adding that the convict not only murdered his mother but he also removed her body parts - brain, heart, liver, kidney, intestine and was cooked them on a pan. “He had cooked her ribs and was about to cook her heart. This is a case of cannibalism," it said.

The prosecution claimed the deceased had refused to give money to the accused to buy liquor.

The sessions court had at the time said the case falls under the "rarest of rare" category and that the gruesome murder shook the social conscience of the society.

The convict filed an appeal challenging his conviction and death penalty.

"If given life imprisonment, he may commit a similar crime in jail," the bench said.

With PTI inputs