MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Tuesday acquitted a couple who was convicted three years ago for murdering a man in Madurai in 2013. According to the prosecution, the deceased, Ilayaraja, was a drunkard and frequently created ruckus in front of the house of Selvaraj and his wife Panju.
During one such incident on December 3, 2013, the couple attacked him with a crowbar and a stone, resulting in his death six days later, it alleged. A Sessions Court in Madurai sentenced the couple to life imprisonment in March 2019. The couple challenged this.
Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha cited the statement of the doctor who conducted Ilayaraja’s autopsy that the injuries said to have been sustained by the deceased might have occurred even due to a fall. If the deceased had taken immediate medical treatment, he would not have died. They also rejected the statements of deceased’s brothers, who were eyewitnesses.