New Delhi, June 8 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Monday extended till June 19 the parole granted to Santosh Kumar Singh, serving a life term for the rape and murder of Priyadarshini Mattoo in 1996.

Singh was earlier granted parole on May 15 to appear in the examinations for the Post Graduate Diploma in Criminology and Forensic Science course, which will expire on Tuesday. He now sought extension of parole saying his wife was pregnant and some tests need to be done between June 11 to June 13.

Justice I.S. Mehta extended the parole after Singh placed on record his wife's medical reports.

Singh, the son of a senior police officer, and then a law student in Delhi University had raped and strangled the 26-year-old law student at her Delhi home in January 1996.

On December 3, 1999, the trial court had acquitted him but the Delhi High Court had on October 27, 2006 held him guilty of rape and murder and awarded death sentence.

On October 6, 2010, the Supreme Court had upheld his conviction but reduced the death sentence to life imprisonment.