Death for girl’s brother in inter-caste couple killing

12 others, including her father, sentenced to life imprisonment

The Special Court for SC/ST Act cases here on Friday awarded the death sentence to the brother of a caste Hindu girl and sentenced 12 others, including her father, to life imprisonment in the killing of inter-caste couple S. Murugesan and D. Kannagi at Vriddhachalam in 2003.

Murugesan, 25, a chemical engineering graduate belonging to a Scheduled Caste community, and Kannagi, 22, a commerce graduate hailing from a Vanniyar family, were residents of Puthukooraipettai. They fell in love while studying at Annamalai University. They secretly got married and registered their marriage on May 5, 2003, at Cuddalore. Angered by this, Kannagi’s family launched a hunt for them. On July 7 that year, they traced the couple, abducted them and forced them to drink poison in the early hours of July 8. The bodies were burnt in the presence of over 300 people.

Delivering the verdict in the case, which was eventually probed by the CBI, Judge S. Uthamaraj said the double-murder was “brutal and against humanity”. The punishment would act as a warning to those practising caste-based hatred.