TIRUPUR (Tamil Nadu): A trial court has awarded the death penalty to six persons, including the father of the Hindu girl, for hatching a conspiracy and killing a Dalit youth who had married her. On March 13 last, an armed gang hacked Shankar, the Dalit youth, and his wife Kausalya, belonging to the Thevar (OBC) community, outside a shopping complex in Udumalpet in Tirupur district, with knives. While Shankar died, Kousalya sustained serious injuries.
The police arrested 11 persons, including Kausalya’s parents Chinnasamy, 40, and Annalakshmi, 35, and the assailants. Following the trial, principal district and sessions judge Alamelu Natarajan held eight of the 11 accused guilty and awarded death sentences to six of them including Chinnasamy (prime accused), life sentence to one accused and a five-year imprisonment to another accused.
The sessions judge acquitted Annalakshmi, P Pandidurai (Kausalya’s uncle) and another accused V. Prasanna Kumar, stating that the prosecution had failed to prove their involvement in the crime beyond reasonable doubt. The death sentence of the six would be executed subject to mandatory confirmation from the Madras High Court.
The court ordered that compensation of ₹11,95,000 be collected from the eight convicts to be paid in different proportions to Kausalya, Shankar’s father and the government.
