Madras HC upholds life sentence conviction of 26 out of 27 accused in 2018 Sivaganga triple murder case

Madurai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 26 (ANI): The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday has upheld the life sentences awarded to 26 convicts in connection with the 2018 murder of three Scheduled Caste men at Kachanatham in C district.
A Division Bench of Justices GK Ilanthiraiyan and R Poornima upheld the life sentences imposed by judgement, while acquitting one accused, Ilayaraja, in the case. The High Court was hearing appeals filed by the accused challenging their conviction and sentence.
The case pertained to an incident of May 28, 2018, in which a group of persons from the dominant 'intermediate caste' allegedly attacked Scheduled Caste villagers with deadly weapons. The assailants were reportedly angered over the villagers' failure to accord them temple honours and for sitting cross-legged in their presence.
Later, the victims K Arumugam, A Shanmuganathan, and V Chandrasekhar were hacked to death in the attack. Dhanasekaran, who sustained grievous injuries, succumbed to health complications a year later.
In this case, a total of 33 persons, including four juveniles, from the dominant intermediate community were named as accused in the case.
Later in 2022, the Special Court for the Exclusive Trial of Cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in Sivaganga sentenced 27 persons belonging to a dominant intermediate caste to life imprisonment in connection with the case.
Earlier in a separate incident, the Madras High Court had dismissed the bail petitions filed by four police personnel accused in the custodial death of 29-year-old temple security guard B. Ajith Kumar in Sivaganga district.
The case concerns the death of Ajith Kumar, who served as a temporary security guard at the Badrakali Amman Temple in Madapuram, Sivaganga district. The court termed the incident a "clear case of custodial death."
Kumar, a security guard at the Madapuram Kaliamman temple in Tiruppuvanam in Sivaganga, was detained for questioning in connection with a theft. He later allegedly died while in police custody.
Justice S. Srimathy rejected the bail applications filed by Ananth, Raja, Prabhu and Sankaramanikandan. During the hearing, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed the court that the alleged jewellery theft case, based on which the victim was detained, had been closed. (ANI)