TIRUNELVELI: Four persons were sentenced to death, while seven others were awarded multiple life imprisonments in connection with the murders of three SC persons in Udappankulam village near Thiruvengadam in 2014. While eleven other accused were acquitted in the case, others died during the trial.
The order was pronounced by the IInd Additional District Sessions Court for PCR Act Cases on Thursday. According to prosecution, 25 persons from a caste Hindu community were accused of murdering 3 scheduled caste men — Kaliraj (45), Venugopal (42) and Murugan (40) — when they were headed towards Sankarankovil on a two-wheeler.
The then DSP Kalivarathan had booked a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and arrested the caste Hindus.
Delivering the verdict, Additional District Judge K Suresh Kumar awarded a death sentence and life term to four — Ponnumani, Gurusamy, Muthukrishnan and Kaliraj.
The court also awarded five accused three life terms and two others with a life term, adding that the sentences could be served concurrently by all the convicts.