The Madras High Court Bench here has set aside conviction and life imprisonment imposed by a lower court on a youngster and his parents for having allegedly murdered a 14-year-old girl whom he had kidnapped twice and had sexual relationship despite knowing that the victim had not even attained puberty.
Allowing a criminal appeal preferred by M. Silambarasan and his parents Malairaj and Poomayil of Kaduguchandai Chathiram in Kadaladi taluk of Ramanathapuram district, a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and M.V. Muralidaran held that the police had failed to prove that the appellants had strangulated the girl to death. They pointed out that, according to the prosecution, Silambarasan had fallen in love with the girl, studying Class IX in 2012, when he was 21 and she was just 14. Though the girl’s parents were residing in Tiruvarur district and she was admitted in a hostel, he developed acquaintance with her since the girl’s native place was in Ramanathapuram district.
The first time when he kidnapped the girl from the hostel in April 2012, the Mudukulathur police rescued the girl from his house and produced her before a Judicial Magistrate who let her go with her parents as per her wish. Within weeks, he kidnapped her again and established a separate family with her in a rented house in Mudukulathur.
The girl’s parents traced their whereabouts and took the girl back to Tiruvarur. However, when the youngster came there and persisted on marrying her, they took a written undertaking from him that he shall marry her only after she attained puberty, and till then he would live with her in Ramanathapuram district.
However, after a few months, the youngster and his parents allegedly demanded 10 sovereigns of jewellery and Rs.10,000 as dowry. When their demand was not met despite the girl informing about it to her parents over phone, they used a sari to strangulate her to death on October 29, 2012 leading to their conviction by a Mahila Court on March 26 last. Pointing out that there was no eye-witness t and that there were absolutely no circumstantial evidences to prove beyond doubt, either the allegation of dowry demand or the charge of murder, the Division Bench said that the trial court had convicted the appellants and sentenced them to life merely on the basis of surmises. Further, observing that the possibility of the girl having committed suicide could not be ruled out, the judges said that the post mortem report too had concluded that there were no marks of violence on any part of the body except for the ligature mark around the neck and the fracture of hyoid bone which could have been caused due to hanging also.
