Man guilty of rape sentenced to life

Coimbatore, Nov 26 (UNI) Mahila Court Judge K Dhakshinamurthy today awarded capital punishment of hang till death and another 20 years of imprisonment if the capital punishment was commuted on appeal to 43-year-old Murthy, who had raped and murdered a 13-year-old girl at Kovilpalayam in the district on June 2, 2005.

According to the prosecution, Murthy (43), a daily-wage worker in construction site, in an inebriated condition, saw his relative's daughter Anitha, alias Pattammal, (13) playing near his grandmother's house at Kovilpalayam.

Murthy enticed her with the promise of getting her a chain of beads and took her to lonely area nearby. He raped her leading to the girl's death due to shock. He threw her body in a nearby unused well.

When Anitha's parents went searching for her, Murthy also joined them, pretending and lodged a complaint with police. The district Superintendent of Police Pon Manickavel, who investigated the case, arrested Murthy in Ooty.

When the case came up before the Mahila Court, judge Kalavathy dismissed the case by stating that the evidence was not concrete, on April 26 in 2006.

Anitha's parents went on to appeal against the judgment in the High Court seeking to re-examine the case.

Accordingly, the case was re-examined before the Mahila Court and Judge Dakshinamurthy convicted and sentenced Murthy, ruling that the case was among the rarest of rare ones. He also ordered that the sentence be imposed concurrently.

UNI KS VV RSA GC1921