CHENNAI: Even as arguments on appeals filed against the verdict of a special court in the murder of Gokulraj, an engineering graduate from a Scheduled Caste community, is in progress, Justices MS Ramesh and N Anand Venkatesh of the Madras High Court on Friday decided to visit the Arthanareeswarar Temple in Tiruchengode in Namakkal district on January 22 to inspect its structure and topography before pronouncing orders on the appeals.
The bench has also framed charges against R Swathi, the lone eyewitness who later turned hostile, in a suo motu contempt of court case. The charges against her include misleading of court, failure to identify her own image in CCTV footages and voice of Gokulraj’s brother Kalaiselvan, and backtracking on statements made under Section 164 of CrPC.
Gokulraj was abducted from the temple on June 23, 2015, by convicts, including Dheeran Chinnamalai Goundar Peravai founder Yuvaraj, and a few others after separating him from his caste Hindu friend Swathi.
Since the CCTV footages produced before the court showed only the deceased being escorted into the temple and not how he was taken out of the temple, the judges have decided to inspect the temple. A day after he was abducted from the temple, Gokulraj was found dead with his decapitated body dumped on the railway tracks near Pallipalayam. Yuvaraj, who was on the run for several weeks and challenged the state police to arrest him, finally surrendered before the CB-CID, the probe agency, in a dramatic manner.
A special court for SC/ST (POA) Act cases later sentenced Yuvaraj and nine others to life imprisonment till death and acquitted five others.While the convicts filed appeals against the order, Gokulraj’s mother V Chitra had moved the HC against the acquittal of a few in the case. The state also filed appeals on the counts of charges.
On Friday, the HC bench directed Swathi’s counsel to file a memo since she could not appear before it due to pregnancy-related issues. The court initiated contempt proceedings in December last year after finding her either evading from giving a true statement or denying certain obvious facts. The matters have been adjourned to January 20, 2023.