A sessions court on Wednesday awarded death penalty to seven, including two lawyers, out of the 10 accused for the murder of neurologist Dr SD Subbiah on September 14, 2013.
The city trial court judge I S Alli, also sentenced two others to life imprisonment while one accused turned approver was released without punishment.
On the evening of September 14, 2013, henchmen murdered the 58-year-old doctor in full public view while he was walking out of Chennai’s Billroth Hospital towards his parked car after his work. A land dispute with his family over a 2.4-acre plot at the doctor’s native Anjugramam village in Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district led to the crime.
Three people wielding machetes had attacked the doctor on his head, neck and he suffered more than 20 cuts across his body. CCTV cameras installed at a nearby apartment captured the brutal attack. Nine days later, the doctor succumbed to his injuries.
Special Public Prosecutor N Vijayaraj in his final arguments asked for capital punishment to be awarded to all the accused in the case for plotting and murder.
{{/usCountry}}Special Public Prosecutor N Vijayaraj in his final arguments asked for capital punishment to be awarded to all the accused in the case for plotting and murder.
{{/usCountry}}The sessions judge on Wednesday sentenced Ponnusamy, Basil, Boris, B William, James Satish Kumar, Murugan and Selva Prakash to double capital punishment for offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence punishable with death) of IPC. The other two accused, Mary Pushpam and Yesurajan, have been sentenced to double life terms.
One of the convicts, William, is an advocate whose bail petition was rejected by the Supreme Court in May 2018. Prosecutor Vijayaraj had at that time submitted a petition in court to declare William as proclaimed offender as he had been absconding with his family members. William surrendered in August that year and was remanded to judicial custody.
One of the accused, P Iyyapan who turned approver in 2018 and became a prosecution witness during the trial was allowed to go free without any punishment. Iyyapan had confessed that he along with Murugan and Selvaprakash had hacked the doctor.
After the court found the accused guilty, the wife of the deceased, Shanthi Subbiah flanked by her daughters poignantly told the media that the judiciary did a tremendous job and she hoped that this would be an example to deter such crimes. “This is a very emotional and private moment for us,” Shanthi said. “In those nine days, he was semi-conscious, I’m sure he would have only thought about me and his two unmarried daughters. We are not going to get him back, but today’s verdict is some consolation. My husband believed in the judiciary and so did we. Today’s verdict shows that our trust in the judiciary hasn’t gone in vain. It’s a little late but never too late to get justice.”