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Madras HC commutes death sentence of 2003 Tamil Nadu hate crime convict
The Madras high court on Wednesday reduced the death sentence of the main convict in the 2003 sensational murder of an inter-caste couple in Tamil Nadu to life sentence and acquitted two others serving life sentence
The Madras high court on Wednesday reduced the death sentence of the main convict in the 2003 sensational murder of an inter-caste couple in Tamil Nadu to life sentence and acquitted two others serving life sentence.
A HC bench comprising Justice PN Prakash and Justice AA Nakkiran passed the orders based on an appeal filed by those found guilty by a trial court in Cuddalore district in September 2021.
The court commuted the death sentence of D Marudhupandian, the brother of D Kannagi, the woman victim. The court, however, confirmed life term given to the other accused, including the woman’s father Duraisamy.
In May 2003, S Murugesan, a Dalit man, and D Kannagi, belonging to the powerful backward Vanniyar community, secretly got married in a sub-registrar’s office. They eloped fearing for their safety but they had stayed in homes of their respective relatives. Kannagi’s family tracked and caught the man in July 2003.
He was hung upside down and tortured until he revealed Kannagi’s location. Kannagi’s family took the couple to a cremation ground in the village and force fed them poison. Since Kannagi had kept her mouth tightly close, they had poured poison into her ears and nose. And while they were struggling for life, they were burnt. And all this happened in public view.
Murugesan’s father Samikannu and younger brother Velmurugan had approached police and the crime escalated with the involvement of social activists and media coverage. Since they accused police of Vriddhachalam of conniving with the accused, the case was transferred to the CBI in 2004 based on a Madras high court order.
In 2009, the CBI filed a 665-page charge sheet naming 15 accused and 81 witnesses and trial began in 2017. All case proceedings were completed in April 2021 and the final judgement came up in September last year.
Justice S Uthamaraja of the Cuddalore district special court for the trial of SC and ST cases last year given a death sentence to prime accused Maruthupandiyan and life imprisonment to 12 others. The trial court’s verdict came 18 years after the chilling hate crime.
Human Rights activists on Wednesday welcomed the judgment of the Madras high court.
“We cannot comment on the acquittal until we see the court orders to understand on what basis they have been freed. Depending on that, we will decide on our next course of action,” G Sugumaran, secretary, Federation for People’s Rights who has been fighting for justice for Murugesan told HT. “As human rights activists we never ask for death penalty. Maruthupandiyan is a gruesome man but we cannot change our principle depending on the case. We have always asked only for a life sentence so we welcome the verdict.”
