THOOTHUKUDI: The POCSO court on Monday imposed double death sentences on a man convicted of raping and murdering a Class 12 student near Thoothukudi.
Special Court Judge M. Breetha found M Dharma Muneeswaran (38) guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering the 17-year-old victim.
The judge noted that the accused himself is the father of a 17-year-old girl, yet had committed such a heinous crime.
Referring to the medical evidence confirmed in the post-mortem report and describing it as a “rarest of rare” case, the judge awarded double death sentences to the accused — one for rape and another for murder.
According to the prosecution, the victim had stepped out of her house to answer nature’s call on March 10 but failed to return home. Her body was found on the outskirts of her village the following day.
Kulathur police arrested Dharma Muneeswaran on March 19 and registered an FIR under various sections of the BNS and the POCSO Act on charges of rape and murder.
The Tamil Nadu government appointed special public prosecutor advocate V Ellammal Kissinger to fast-track the trial, which was conducted between May 5 and 18.
M Subburaj, the father of the deceased victim, welcomed the judgment. He said the victim’s mother had not eaten for several days due to the grief caused by their daughter’s death. He added that only when those accused of such heinous crimes are hanged can women’s safety be ensured.
