CHENNAI: A Tiruvallur sessions court on Tuesday sentenced a 40-year-old man to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of his lover’s 18-year-old Dalit daughter at Poonamallee in November 2022. He was also convicted under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, with both sentences to run concurrently.
Principal Sessions Judge J Juliet Pushpa convicted Raju Mani Nair alias Najibudeen under IPC sections 376A (rape resulting in death), 302 (murder) and 379 (theft), along with section 3(2)(v) of the SC/ST (PoA) Act. For theft, he was sentenced to three years’ rigorous imprisonment, and fines totalling Rs 35,000 were imposed.
Case records show the accused had been in a relationship with the victim’s mother, a separated woman living at Senneerkuppam near Poonamallee. The teenager, belonging to a SC, had come to stay with her mother a few months before the incident. On November 12, 2022, when the woman was at work, the accused allegedly entered the house, sexually assaulted the girl and strangled her. He then fled with jewellery and Rs 3,500 in cash.
Poonamallee police arrested him from Mumbai and recovered the stolen items. The court recommended Rs 5 lakh compensation to the victim’s mother under the Tamil Nadu Compensation Scheme for Women Victims, 2018.