MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu government has moved an appeal before the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court challenging the acquittal of a 19-year-old youth arrested in April 2019 on charges of sexually assaulting and murdering the minor daughter of a hairdresser from Dindigul.
State Public Prosecutor A Natarajan, appearing before a bench of justices K Kalyanasundaram and T Krishnavalli on Tuesday, sought permission to file an appeal on behalf of Vadamadurai police of Dindigul against the judgment passed by a Mahila court on September 29, 2020. The judges granted permission and also ordered notice to the accused youth.
Grounds of appeal
The government stated that the presence of the accused at the place and time of occurrence had been proved by the police beyond doubt. It also pointed out that the DNA found in the bloodstained undergarments of the accused matched with that of the parents of the deceased and contended that the lower court was wrong in deciding that the bloodstains could not have been preserved till the seizure of the garments 10 days after the incident.
The 12-year-old victim was sexually assaulted and murdered at her home on April 16, 2019. Ten days later her neighbour, a 17-year-old boy, was arrested in connection with the incident. But he was acquitted by the lower court on the ground that the police failed to prove the charges against him.
The acquittal caused an uproar and several political parties and associations urged the government to appeal against the verdict.