Dalit youth Golukraj murder case: Madurai court sentences 10 to life imprisonment

MADURAI: A special court for trial of cases registered under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Madurai on Tuesday awarded life imprisonment to ten people, including prime accused S Yuvaraj, in the sensational murder of dalit youth Gokulraj in Namakkal district in June 2015.
Yuvaraj, who is the founder of caste outfit Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai, was awarded triple life imprisonment, to be served concurrently.
Yuvaraj’s driver P Arun and fellow accused S Kumar alias Sivakumar, R Sathiskumar, S Ragu, D Ranjith and D Selvaraj have been awarded double life imprisonment.
Three of their fellow accused – S Chandrasekaran, M Prabhu and P Giridhar – were awarded life imprisonment.
Third additional district judge T Sampathkumar said all the accused should serve life imprisonment until death.
The convicts broke down in the court hall on hearing the verdict.
Gokulraj, an engineering student from Omalur in Salem district, was kidnapped by a gang on June 23, 2015, from a temple at Tiruchengode where he was seen talking to a girl belonging to the gounder community. His body was found on a railway track at Pallipalayam the following day. On Saturday, the III additional district judge T Sampathkumar convicted 10 of the accused and acquitted five others.
There were a total 17 accused in the case. The court acquitted five of them -- V Sankar, S Arul Senthil, P Selvakumar, S Thangadurai and P Suresh. Accused Jothimani had been murdered in a property dispute. Another accused– T Amudharasu – is facing a separate trial in a Namakkal court.
Earlier on Tuesday, all the 10 who were pronounced as guilty pleaded not guilty when they were produced before the court for questioning of sentence by the judge questioned them. An emotional Chitra, mother of Gokulraj, who was in tears, urged the court to award the highest punishment to those who murdered her son. During his closing arguments, special public prosecutor Bhavani B Mohan also urged to award highest punishment to the convicts, by citing the brutality involved in the murder of Gokulraj.