New Delhi, Oct 6 (IANS): The Supreme Court Wednesday commuted the death penalty given to Santosh Kumar Singh and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the 1996 rape and murder of Delhi University student Priyadarshini Mattoo.

Santosh, the son of a senior Indian Police Service officer, had been sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court in October 2006 for raping and murdering his junior in her uncle's flat in Vasant Kunj here. She was found dead Jan 23, 1996.

His death sentence was set aside by an apex court bench headed by Justice H.S. Bedi.

Priyadarshini's Father 'Disappointed' with Verdict 

Expressing disappointment with the Supreme Court verdict in the 1996 Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case, the victim's father Chaman Lal Mattoo Wednesday said reducing the death penalty for the killer to life imprisonment was a "concession" and should not set a precedent.

"After fighting for 14 long years, with the entire civil society watching, they have been dismayed by this verdict. The court should have upheld the death sentence," Mattoo told a TV channel.

He said he was "disappointed". His reaction came soon after the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of Santosh Kumar Singh, the son of a senior police officer, to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of Priyadarshini. Singh, her senior in Delhi University, had been given the death sentence by Delhi High Court in 2006.

Chaman Lal Mattoo said: "The Supreme Court should make sure that this reduction is not misused as a trend and a trick in the sense that the culprit should roam here and there while in jail."