CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed by the parents of IT employee Swathi, who was brutally murdered at the Nungambakkam railway station, seeking orders to the railways to pay a compensation of Rs 3 crore.
Justice R Subramanian dismissed the petition filed by Swathi’s mother A Ranganayaki and father K Santhanagopalakrishnan. However, the judge gave liberty to the petitioners to file a civil suit for compensation.
Twenty-four-year old Swathi was hacked to death in Nungambakkam railway station on June 24, 2016, while she was waiting to board a train to reach her workplace in Mahendra City. The police arrested Ramkumar, who died by suicide at the Puzhal Central Prison.
Swathi’s parents, in the petition, alleged sheer negligence of the railways and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) emboldened the assailant to commit the crime on a crowded platform.
However, additional standing counsel Vijay Anand, representing the respondents, contended that the respondents could not be held responsible for any kind of negligence because the crime was a premeditated one.