Man gets double life imprisonment for raping elderly woman near Coimbatore

Coimbatore: A special court for the trial of cases registered under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on Tuesday sentenced a 42-year-old man to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment and double life imprisonment for raping a 62-year-old SC woman in 2022. The court ordered the man to serve the 16 years of imprisonment first and then serve the life imprisonment.

M Velusamy, 42, a daily wage labourer from a village near Kinathukadavu in Coimbatore district who belongs to a non-dalit community, was arrested for raping a 62-year-old dalit woman in the village on June 26, 2022. The woman’s husband died seven years ago.

She went out in search of fodder for her goats when Velusamy forcibly took her to under a bridge and raped her. She lost two teeth while attempting to resist the sexual assault and sustained minor injuries.

The woman managed to walk to a nearby bus stop, where she fainted. Later, she was admitted to a primary health centre (PHC) and was given immediate medical attention. She was shifted to district headquarters hospital in Pollachi.

Former Perur all-women police inspector S Amutha recorded the statements of the rape survivor. The case trial was held at the special court. On Tuesday, the court found Velusamy guilty. The court awarded seven years of rigorous imprisonment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt, another seven years under the SC/ST Act and two years for criminal intimidation.

The court also awarded double life imprisonment to Velusamy for raping the elderly woman. He was ordered to undergo the two life terms concurrently, after serving the 16 years of rigorous imprisonment for other offences consecutively. The court imposed a fine of Rs 32,000 on him.