Ten years after a 31-year-old man was hacked to death, the additional district court in Madurai on Tuesday sentenced six people to life imprisonment in connection with the incident.
Madurai : Ten years after a 31-year-old man was hacked to death, the additional district court in Madurai on Tuesday sentenced six people to life imprisonment in connection with the incident. But it was the victim Susendran’s father Jeyamani who stood by his account of seeing his son hacked to death on a Madurai road in 2016.
The court said his testimony was supported by the recovery of the three weapons and medical evidence linking them to the injuries. The sentencing comes after six eyewitnesses turned hostile, the victim’s brother withdrew support for the prosecution and even his mother’s version differed from the police case. Relying on that testimony and supporting medical and recovery evidence, judge M Udhayavelavan convicted Parthasarathy, Prakash, two men named Muthupandi, Suresh Kannan and Karthick for offences linked to the murder and conspiracy. Several other accused died during the trial. During the prolonged trial, eyewitnesses Pandi, Sankaranarayanan, Ramesh, Velmurugan, Sathishkumar and Dhakshinamoorthi turned hostile. Susendran’s brother Mahendran also did not support the prosecution beyond admitting his signature on the complaint. The defence also pointed to testimony from Susendran’s mother and wife suggesting Jeyamani had reached the scene only after being informed. The court noted they were examined eight years after the killing.
The prosecution said the killing followed an earlier dispute involving Parthasarathy and Susendran’s brother Nagendran. The court also inferred conspiracy from the accused arriving together and acting in concert.