MADURAI: Reversing the acquittal of four brothers in the murder of an auto driver in Tirunelveli in 2015, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has sentenced them to life imprisonment.
A bench of justices P Velmurugan and R Poornima passed the order on an appeal filed by Mariammal, mother of the deceased Ponniah, challenging the order passed by IV Additional Sessions Judge, Tirunelveli, acquitting the four accused Sakthivel, Esakkimuthu alias Kumar, Samadurai alias Chinnadurai, Marimuthu alias Mari- who were also auto drivers- on March 2, 2022.
Since the marriage of Sakthivel's daughter is scheduled to take place on November 30, the judges permitted him to surrender on December 5 and granted three days' leave to the other three from November 29 to December 1 to enable them to attend the wedding. If they fail to surrender on the specified dates, the jurisdictional police should take steps to secure them, the judges added.
According to the judgment, the accused and deceased belonged to Sandhimarithamman auto stand in Thachanallur. Following the murder of Periyasamy of their village, there was previous enmity, a scuffle broke out between Ponniah and Sakthivel. Following this, on February 25, 2015, Sakthivel and his brothers waylaid Ponniah and attacked him, resulting in his death.
Based on a complaint lodged by a witness, Palayamkottai police arrested them. The trial court acquitted them. Though the government did not challenge this, Ponniah's mother filed an appeal.
Hearing both sides, the HC noted that the trial court had only given importance to certain contradictions and discrepancies, which were immaterial and would not affect the prosecution's case. The judges therefore concluded that the prosecution has provided ample evidence and proved the case beyond a reasonable doubt and passed the order.
