TIRUPATTUR: The Tirupattur District and Sessions Court on Monday sentenced 27-year-old K Hemaraj to life imprisonment till death for attempting to rape and murder a pregnant woman travelling in a train in February this year.
Judge S Meenakumari sentenced Hemaraj, a habitual offender, under seven provisions of the BNS, including Section 109(1) (attempt to murder), Section 117(3) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), Section 79 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), Section 64(2)(H) read with Section 62 (attempting to rape a woman knowing her to be pregnant), Section 127(2) (wrongful confinement), and Section 92 (causing the death of an unborn child by an act amounting to culpable homicide). In addition, he was convicted under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. Hemaraj was convicted in the case last Friday.
The judge also directed the Southern Railway and the state government to pay Rs 50 lakh each as compensation to the victim. Public Prosecutor PT Saravanan, who represented the victim, told TNIE the court has made it clear that no leniency, including parole or leave, should be granted to Hemaraj. The judge further instructed the railways to appoint woman police personnel in ladies’ coaches in all trains across TN and to install surveillance cameras in these coaches. Besides, the state government was ordered to bear the cost of the victim’s lifelong treatment.
The chargesheet was filed on April 26, and the trial commenced on June 9.
The crime took place on February 6, 2025, when the woman from Tiruppur was travelling alone in the ladies’ coach of the Coimbatore–Tirupati Intercity Express. After other woman passengers got down at Jolarpet station, Hemaraj boarded the compartment and allegedly attempted to rape her before pushing her off the train. On February 10, she suffered a miscarriage of the second baby the family had planned and waited 18 years for.