The Principal District and Sessions Judge, Tiruppur, on Thursday awarded 10 years of imprisonment to a man who allegedly abetted the suicide of his wife in 2013 and used casteist slurs against her.
According to legal sources, S. Muruganantham (34) was arrested by the Veerapandi police within Tiruppur City Police limits on December 2013 after his wife died by suicide. The accused was a caste Hindu and his wife Vidhya was from a Scheduled Caste. He allegedly tortured her physically and used casteist insults against her, the sources said.
The accused was booked under Sections 498A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 306 (Abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code along with Section 3 (2) (va) (Whoever, not being a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe, commits any offence specified in the Schedule, against a person or property, knowing that such person is a member of a Scheduled Caste or a Scheduled Tribe) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
On Thursday, Principal District and Sessions Judge Swarnam J. Natarajan found the accused guilty of the charges and sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment. The accused was also levied a fine of ₹ 4,000, according to the sources.
Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050.
