The killing of a Dalit man and a Vanniyar girl happened 14 years ago. The trial proceedings in the case began in August this year. But at the initial stage itself, many witnesses turned hostile. Concerned over the turn of events, an advocate filed a PIL petition prompting the High Court to issue a directive to the trial court asking to it decide on the plea for rejection of bail to the accused.
S. Murugesan, 25, a graduate in chemical engineering and D. Kannagi, 22, a commerce graduate — both residents of Puthukkooraippettai, near Vriddhachalam town — fell in love with each other when they were students at Annamalai University in Chidambaram.
Their marriage was solemnised and registered in 2003 under the Hindu Marriage Registration Rules, 1967, by the Registrar of Hindu Marriages, Cuddalore.
Fear of backlash
The couple hesitated to disclose the marriage to their parents fearing a backlash as they belonged to different castes. Kannagi was living in her parents’ house, while Murugesan was hunting for a job. They also wanted to reveal the marriage after Murugesan found a job.
In the meantime, the family of girl came to know about the marriage and prevented the couple from meeting each other.
On July 3 of the year, Murugesan came to the village and took Kannagi with him without the knowledge of their parents.
Her disappearance caused tension in the village and Kannagi’s father, C. Doraisami, a local panchayat president, and brother D. Marudupandian, apparently took it as an affront to their family and caste honour. They organised a search for the couple.
Their men found them on July 7 and were reportedly forced to drink poison. Their bodies were burnt on the burial ground on July 8 in the presence of more than 300 people.
A case was registered by the local police and later an investigation was taken up by the CBI.
The trial began in the Principal District Sessions Court, Cuddalore, recently. Filing a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court, P.K.Ilavarasan, an advocate, said due to threats issued by the girl’s family, several witnesses had turned hostile.
“Selvaraj, who was to give evidence on September 1, had committed suicide a day ago.
The witnesses are being forced to turn hostile and unless and until the cancellation of bail petitions are decided, the witnesses may not be in a position to give the correct version before the trial court,” charged Mr. Ilavarasan.
Vacation bench directive
The vacation bench comprising of Justices S.Vaidyanathan and R.Subramanian on Thursday directed the trial court in Cuddalore to decide the petitions filed for cancellation of bail granted to the accused — Maurudupandian, Kandavel, Jothi and Ramadoss.
The bench also asked the trial court to hear the plea for summoning Chinnapillai, the mother of Murugesan, as a court witness on a day-to-day basis.
