the Federal Court, in Malaysia, upheld the death sentence for P. Vellertore

the Federal Court, in Malaysia, upheld the death sentence for P. Vellertore, 52, for murder. His final appeal was dismissed by five-man panels which was chaired by Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Vellertore, a security guard, who was sentenced to death by the Johor Bahru High Court on April 7, 2010, was found guilty of murdering his three young children, about seven years ago. He was convicted of the murder of Rudraa Kumar, six, Kesappata, five, and Harini, three, by strangling them at his house in Taman Muhibah, Kulai, Johor on Nov 20, 2004. Evidence showed that he strangled them before attempting to hang himself. Vellertore also forced his teenage daughter, Revathy, then 13 years old, to hang herself. She was rescued by a neighbour who heard her cries for help while Vellertore ended in a coma. Vellertore was said to have conducted the act out of disappointment and frustration as his wife had left him about two weeks before the incident. Malanjum said there was no basis to reject the evidence of a psychiatrist who examined Vellertore. The psychiatrist concluded that although he (Vellertore) was in a state of depression, he was not mentally unsound. She testified that depression could cause a man to kill his children and commit suicide but the person suffering from depression would know the consequences of his act.