Two walk free in woman murder case, punishment of another accused modifed

The woman's family members, who are the eye witnesses in the case, claimed all three had attacked her with weapons and murdered her
Representational Image. (File Photo)
Representational Image. (File Photo)

MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court acquitted two persons and modified the punishment of another accused in a case related to the murder of an elderly woman at Theni in 2011.

The three accused, K Mokkai and his two sons - Udayakumar and Muth alias Mandaani - were the neighbours of the woman and were living in the house located on the opposite side of the woman's in Theni. The two families had a running enmity as the woman's family had filed a complaint against Udayakumar for stalking her granddaughter.

On the day of the incident, when the woman's family members were making wedding arrangements for the girl, the accused reportedly created some disturbances, leading to a quarrel.

The woman's family members, who are the eye witnesses in the case, claimed all three had attacked her with weapons and murdered her.

A Division Bench, comprising Justices R Subramanian and N Sathish Kumar, that heard the trio's appeal against their conviction, noted the deceased had told the medical officer at the hospital that she was attacked by one person. Though the judges were convinced about the involvement of Udayakumar in the incident, they felt the eye witnesses exaggerated their statements in order to implicate his family members.

Further noting the unexplained delay in dispatching the FIR to the lower court, the judges set aside the conviction of Mokkai and Mandaani. Also holding that Udayakumar committed the offence in the spur of the moment during a quarrel and without any premeditation, they modified his conviction from Section 302 (Murder) of IPC to Section 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) Part 1 and reduced his punishment from life imprisonment to 10 years rigorous imprisonment.

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