MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently confirmed the double life sentence imposed on six persons for attempting to murder a woman panchayat president, belonging to the SC community, for trying to build a public toilet for women on a government land in 2011.
A bench of justices GK Ilanthiraiyan and R Poornima passed the order while dismissing a batch of appeals filed by the six convicts- A Subbu alias Subramaniyan, A Sultan Mydeen, J Jacob, A Karthik, M Vijayaramamoorthy, and D Praveen Raj.
According to the prosecution, the victim P Krishnaveni was elected as the panchayat president of Thalaiyuthu village for the term 2006-2011. Krishnaveni was trying to build a public toilet in a government poramboke land. Due to a lack of sufficient funds with the panchayat, she had sought assistance from a private cement company, which agreed to fund the construction. However, Subramaniyan, the then panchayat member whose house was situated close to the land, had expressed strong objections. It was also alleged that another public toilet was functioning nearby.
Since the construction works were obstructed by Subramaniyan and his supporters, Krishnaveni submitted a petition to the collector on June 13, 2011. When she was returning home from work the same night in an auto, she was waylaid by the convicts who attacked her with deadly weapons, causing grievous injuries.
Based on a complaint lodged by her husband, Thalaiyuthu police registered a case against nine persons, of which the above six persons were convicted in October 2024, which has been challenged by them in the present appeals. Two more accused had been acquitted by the trial court, and one died during the pendency of the trial
The judges observed that the above case served as a clear example of the illegal actions committed by members of the other community against individuals from the SC (Arunthathiyar) community, who are part of a marginalized group. Though other witnesses in the case turned hostile, the injured eye witness Krishnaveni’s statement was cogent and trustworthy despite the minor contractions and exaggerations, the judges held.
Though some reference was made to non-recovery of weapons used by some of the convicts, the judges opined that mere non-recovery of weapons is not fatal to the case of the prosecution. The contradictions in Krishnaveni’s dying declaration and her witness statement need not be taken into account, considering the state in which the declaration was recorded from her; they further added and dismissed the appeals.