Man gets life term for Madras Race Club official’s murder

CHENNAI: A mahila sessions court in the city on Friday sentenced a man to life in prison for the murder of the additional secretary of the Madras Race Club (MRC) in Guindy inside her office on August 14, 2013. The man was also fined Rs 5,000.
Guindy police arrested M Solaimalai, 33, a resident of the MRC staff quarters in Guindy, in connection with the murder of Aruna Ramanathan, 48, of Shanthi Colony in Anna Nagar.Solaimalai inflicted deep cut injuries on her throat when she stepped out of a meeting to attend a call at around 8pm.
Police arrested Solaimalai under murder charges, remanded him in judicial custody and filed a chargesheet before the mahila sessions court. Solaimalai was among the 110 security guards, all casual workers, who were fired by the club’s management in 2012 after a private financier was murdered during a race. Later, the club roped in a private firm to handle security.
Members of the club’s employees union subsequently staged several protests to put pressure on the management to resolve various work-related issues. They took their complaints to the labour commissioner, but to no avail. Solaimalai was lodged in Puzhal prison following the judgement. Additional public prosecutor Gowri Asokan appeared represented the state and lawyer A Subramani appeared for the accused.