MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court recently reduced the life sentence of a man, who was convicted of attempting to murder his wife and mother-in-law, to 12 years. The petitioner, Ganeshan, hailed from V Kottaiyur village in Pudukottai district. He is married to Shanmugavalli and have three children.
After Ganeshan lost the job he had in Muscat, he returned to his native and reportedly became an alcoholic. As the situation grew worse, his mother in June 2016, advised Shanmugavalli to return to her native Thirugokarnam village in Pudukottai with her children. Irked over them leaving, Ganeshan went to his in-laws' house and hacked Shanmugavalli and her mother Valarmathi. Both of them sustained injuries in the attack.
Thirugokaranam police booked Ganeshan under various sections of the IPC and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act. Later, the Mahila Court in Pudukkottai sentenced Ganeshan to life imprisonment.
The petitioner's counsel submitted in the court that the injury/treatment certificates issued by the private hospital, where the mother-daughter duo received treatment, had not disclosed the details of the injuries and did not say if Valarmathi suffered grievous injuries.
"Ganeshan had actually gone to the house to reunite with his wife," the counsel added. A bench of Justices PN Prakash and R Hemalatha said Ganeshan had carried a billhook to his wife's house, which reveals that he had the intention of murder. But the court commuted his life sentence to twelve years.