15 yrs after murder, Madras HC sentences nine to life imprisonment

Chennai: Eight years after being acquitted by a trial court in a murder case, nine persons accused in the case were awarded life imprisonment by Madras high court on Wednesday. The issue pertained to a murder due to previous enmity in Tiruvannamalai in 2011."All the accused were present at the scene and participated in the attack, which resulted in multiple injuries to the deceased, ultimately causing death. Considering the evidence, the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that all the accused are guilty of the murder. The evidence of witnesses, together with the medical reports, is reliable and trustworthy," a division bench of Justice P Velmurugan and Justice M Jothiraman said.
The trial court, however, failed to consider supporting medical evidence and gave undue importance to minor contradictions and the hostility of certain witnesses. The judgment of acquittal passed by the trial court was therefore liable to be set aside, the bench said.According to the prosecution, due to previous enmity between the parties, on Jan 14, 2011, Elumalai was attacked and sustained injuries at the hands of certain persons belonging to Adaiyur village of Tiruvannamalai. In connection with the said incident, cases and counter-cases were registered between both groups, which further worsened the dispute between them.On April 25, 2011, at about 5:30 pm, when Elumalai and his son Ramesh went to a shop situated at Tiruvannamalai Nagar, all the accused, with the common intention of murdering Ramesh, armed themselves with deadly weapons.On seeing the accused, Elumalai and Ramesh attempted to escape. However, the accused chased and attacked Ramesh indiscriminately. Due to the assault, Ramesh sustained grievous injuries. Ramesh was immediately taken to the govt Hospital, Tiruvannamalai, where he was declared brought dead.Completing the trial, the District and Sessions Judge, Tiruvannamalai, on Dec 21, 2017, acquitted all the accused, holding that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt. Aggrieved, the state moved the present appeal.