The Madras High Court on Wednesday commuted to life the death sentence imposed by a trial court last year on one of the 13 convicts in the 2003 Kannagi-Murugesan honour killing case.
Justices P.N. Prakash and A.A. Nakkiran commuted the sentence awarded to D. Maruthupandian, brother of the deceased M. Kannagi, while answering a reference from the trial court. The judges also allowed appeals preferred by two of the 12 other convicts and acquitted them of all charges. The appeal preferred by one more convict was partly allowed with respect to certain offences.
The conviction and the life sentence imposed on nine other convicts, including the victim woman's father C. Duraiswami, were confirmed and their appeals against the conviction were dismissed.
Kannagi, belonging to the Vanniyar community (the Most Backward Class), had fallen in love with Murugesan of a Scheduled Caste when they were studying at Annamalai University in Chidambaram. Hailing from Puthukkooraippettai village in Cuddalore district, they got married secretly and registered the marriage in Cuddalore on May 5, 2003. Kannagi's family was furious on learning about the marriage.
According to the prosecution, poison was forced into the throats of the couple at the village cremation ground on July 8, 2003, and their bodies were burnt to make it appear that it was a case of suicide. After a botched investigation by the local police, the probe was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, at the instance of Murugesan's father. A final report was filed in 2009.
Finally, in September last, a special court in Cuddalore convicted 13 accused and awarded capital punishment to the victim woman's brother. The rest were sentenced to life imprisonment.
