MADURAI: Citing insufficient evidence, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently acquitted two men, who were awarded death penalty last year for allegedly raping and murdering a home-alone widow in Tirunelveli in 2008.
According to the prosecution, on September 29, 2008 around 9.15 pm, a group of men entered the victim's house and sexually assaulted her. Later, they strangled her to death and fled with her money and jewellery, the prosecution added.
Kallidaikurichi police registered a case against six persons in this regard, but only two - Vasantha Kumar alias Ganesan and Rajesh alias Rajeshkanna - were convicted by the trial court in February last year. Considering it a 'rarest of rare case', the court awarded capital punishment to them and referred the judgment to the HC Bench for confirmation.
However, a Bench of Justices V Bharathidasan and J Nisha Banu, who heard the matter, observed that except the semen stains of the two suspects, which were found on the clothes of the victim, and the fingerprints present on the premises, no concrete evidence was produced by the police against the duo.
"Even the above two evidences do not prove that the duo raped and murdered the victim. That apart, the postmortem report does not indicate any sign of rape. It is unsafe to convict the duo solely based on scientific evidence," the judges said. and acquitted the duo.