Six get double life term for bid to murder SC woman panchayat president

The Special Court for Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes Cases here has awarded double imprisonment to six persons for attempting to murder an SC woman village panchayat president.

According to prosecution, P. Krishnaveni, 51, of Vadakku Thazhaiyoothu was the president of Thazhaiyoothu village panchayat in 2011. When she decided to construct a sanitary complex on a government ‘odai poramboke’ land, one Subramanian of Mela Thazhaiyoothu opposed it, and it led to enmity between both sides.

When Ms. Krishnaveni was going home from the panchayat office on the night of June 13, 2011, in an autorickshaw, an armed gang waylaid the vehicle and attacked her, in which she sustained multiple cut injuries.

Subsequently, Thazhaiyoothu police arrested Subramanian, his friend Sultan Maideen, 59, of the same area, while one antisocial element, Jacob, 33, and his associates Karthik, 34, Vijaya Ramamurthy, 34 and Praveen Raj, 32, surrendered before a Valliyoor court in the next few days.

The police also cited Subramanian’s brothers Ramakrishnan and Santhanamari, and his friend Natarajan as accused in the case.

Even as the trial of the case was going on in the special court, Natarajan died and Ramakrishnan and Santhanamari were acquitted from the case for want of evidence.

Special Court Judge Suresh Kumar on Thursday awarded double life imprisonment to Subramanian, Sultan Maideen, Jacob, Karthik, Vijaya Ramamurthy and Praveen Raj.

While Subramanian and Sultan Maideen should undergo the double life imprisonment concurrently, the others would have to undergo the double life imprisonment consecutively, the judge said.

He also imposed a fine of ₹1.10 lakh on Praveen Raj, and ₹1.30 lakh on all others.

Published - October 10, 2024 07:13 pm IST