Youth gets life term for rape, murder of 85-year-old woman

Coimbatore: A 25-year-old man from Manipur was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday for raping and murdering an 85-year-old woman at her residence on 100 Feet Road last year.

The body of P Palaniammal was found at her house on First Street Extension on December 18, 2016. Some gold ornaments were also missing from the house. Postmortem conducted at the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital revealed that the elderly woman was also raped.

Police soon arrested M Mohammed Samir Khan, from Kwakta in Bishnupur district in Manipur, in connection with the case. “He was born in an agrarian family. After completing class VIII in Manipur, he went to Malappuram in Kerala, where he worked in a hotel for eight months. His cousin Reena, also a native of Manipur, had offered him a job in a hotel in Peelamedu. So, he moved to Coimbatore on December 17. Reena’s close friend Akash, a resident of First Street Extension, had invited his friends to attend his birthday party on the night of December 18. Reena also brought Samir Khan to the party and all of them consumed liquor,” a police officer said.

Police had interrogated all those who attended the party on the night of the incident. “However, Samir Khan was missing and his mobile phone was also switched off. A police team soon found him on the North Coimbatore flyover. He jumped from the flyover when he saw the team and suffered fractures on his legs,” the officer told TOI.

During interrogation, Samir told police that he killed the woman as he was in need of money. “His friends had refused to give him money. When he was walking towards 100 Feet Road after the party, he found Palaniammal sleeping alone in her house. He managed to break into the house and stole gold bangles from there. He strangulated the woman and also raped her,” the officer added. The trial was held at the special court for bomb blast cases. Judge M Gunasekran, who pronounced the judgement, also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on the man.