26 September 2012 :

a man who was sentenced to hang for killing his girlfriend in Ang Mo Kio four years ago, escaped the gallows after the Court of Appeal set aside his murder conviction. Pathip Selvan Sugumaran, who was 22 when he stabbed to death Miss Jeevitha Panippan, 18, in July 2008, was instead found guilty of a lesser charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, reported The Straits Times. Pathip had said in defense that he had been provoked by Miss Jeevitha, who had taunted him by saying that her new beau was better in bed. He claimed he lost self-control and that his mind was "blank" during the stabbing. The appeal court will hear submissions on Pathip's sentence next Wednesday. The punishment for culpable homicide is life imprisonment, or up to 20 years' jail and caning or a fine.